“Was the act consummated?” Edward questioned.
“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think so. I couldn’t even stay awake, much less perform.”
“So the child may not be yours?”
“Possibly. Or it could be someone else’s, trying to make the child mine. The next sheik will be powerful and inherit much lands and wealth.”
“That is reason enough for someone to try and pass the child off as yours.”
“Yes. And I have recently discovered that she has disappeared from the palace. My advisor Daleel informed me.”
“And the marriage?”
“There was no marriage, Lord Edward. What kind of man do you think I am? I was grieving and searching for Katharine. All I wanted was Katharine. My marriage with Yasmeen was over. I had disbanded the harem. Katharine is the only woman I want.”
The room was silent was several seconds.
“Then whoever wrote this, wrote it with the intent of separating you and Katharine forever,” Edward spoke.
“Yes.”
Both men were deep in thought.
“It would be someone close to you, Mohammed. Someone who knew everything and didn’t want you together.”
Seconds ticked by in the quiet room. Mohammed and Edward stared at each other.
“Someone who doesn’t like Katharine. Someone who despises Katharine,” Edward reasoned.
Mohammed looked into the fire and then placed his head in his hands. He knew with a certainty who was behind it all.
“Abdullah.”
“Who is that?”
“He is my chief advisor.”
Suddenly, it all made sense. Abdullah had never liked Katharine. He had always wanted his wife to be of Arab descent. Unlike Daleel, who had modern ideas, Abdullah was conservative and fanatical in his Islamic beliefs.
“He has done this,” Mohammed whispered. “He has written this letter of lies to separate me from Katharine.”
Then he thought of Katharine. No wonder she wanted nothing to do with him. She thought that he had a wife and son and that she was nothing more to him than a warm body.
He felt an ache in his heart. Katharine. She must have been so humiliated when this filthy letter had first been read. She would have been crushed to learn that she had been put aside for another woman and child while she was alone, waiting for him to return as he had promised. It was a mess. But it would be remedied. He must see her. Now.
“Where is Katharine?”
But Edward didn’t seem to hear him.
“Oh my dear boy!”
“What is it?”
“Oh, no, no, no,” he murmured.
“What is it?”
Mohammed was suddenly concerned for Katharine’s safety, though Abdullah was so far away.