The Sheik and the Slave
Page 42
Katharine awoke to the sound of a fist pounding on her cabin door. She shivered in the cool air, remembering the degrading dream.
"Yes?" she asked. She looked disheveled as she answered her door in a long, white shift.
"The coast of England has been spotted, Lady," Dunya told her in Arabic.
”Thank you, Dunya,” Katharine said, smiling widely. Then, she closed the door and sank upon her bed. Home! she thought. She was home.
Chapter 10
Katharine’s homecoming had been bittersweet. Her father was patient with her, and no one had pressed her for details of what had happened when she was taken away to Arabia. There were so many questions that remained unanswered, and her pride and honor were the reasons she could not answer them. She could never tell her father what had happened between herself and Mohammed, and her mother smirked at her as if she already knew the truth.
She watched idly in the mirror as the young maid pinned up her hair. Unlike in Arabia, where her hair had been long and flowing, in England, she pinned her hair up. She thought she hated Arabia, with its sun, heat, food, women, and miles of nothing but sand! More and more, though, she found herself thinking of that place and dreaming of him. The dreams were always the same. He would summon her and she would obey him. In her dreams, she was always satisfied.
In the mornings, she awoke from the hot desert sand to the cool, crisp English air, rolling green hills, light rain, and loneliness without him.
She had been in England for a month, hardly speaking of her time away, when Francie asked her one evening about it. It was then that she realized the truth. She had fallen in love.
No one asked about him or his name, and he remained the large shadow in the room. Her father thought she had been returned home safely and ever the same, but he was wrong; her time spent far away from home had altered her. She tried to look away from her reflection in the mirror. She had lost weight since coming home, and her manners were barely recognizable to her family. Once outgoing, free, and happy, she now spoke very little and interacted even less.
Her mother had made no mention of a suitor for marriage, but Katharine had resigned herself to marry. She would never see Mohammed again, and the time had come to marry.
"Are you pleased, my lady?" asked the timid Irish maid after her hair had been dressed.
"Thank you. You are very gifted," Katharine replied. The maid smiled shyly.
"Will you be wanting to dress for dinner?" asked the maid. Her Irish accent was lilting and pleasing to the ear.
"The pink frock is fine," Katharine said, gesturing to the pastel dress lying across her bed.
"Begging your pardon ma'am, but the color washes you out. Perhaps the purple or salmon colored gown would do."
"No. The pink is fine," Katharine said. She had no desire to look charming or alluring. Everything in England seemed cold and serious, and her heart yearned for the warmth and burn of Arabia. And for him, a small voice said.
***
Lady Anne sipped her soup delicately as Edward watched his daughter from across the mahogany table. She barely touched her food and said very little.
"Daughter, I won't have you wasting away before my very eyes," Edwar
d spoke to her as she looked away.
"I'm not hungry, Father, that's all," she said, shrugging her slim shoulders.
"Come, come," he said to her. He pushed his empty soup bowl away as he eyed his beautiful girl.
"Perhaps we should tell her about our plans, Edward.” Katharine’s mother said. “That should put a bloom in her cheeks." Lady Anne smiled encouragingly.
"Indeed. Your mother and I are planning a large ball in two months’ time. A grand affair to welcome you back and perhaps announce a betrothal, too," he said unsurely. Edward looked across to his wife, Anne, and both looked over at Katharine.
Katharine's head jerked up.
"You have a husband in mind for me?" she asked.
Edward took his time in replying. He knew Baron Adams had treated his daughter abominably, and that the Earl had been too old for her. This time, he would choose better.
"Well, several, my dear. But you will have the final say," Edward assured her.
"Who are they?" Katharine asked absently.