Page 87 of Inconvenient Honor
“Your ring?”
“You took my grandfather’s ring. I need it to verify this request, to assure them I am making it myself.”
A sharp command sent a young man scrambling. Richard watched him climb a ladder to the upper story. He reached for another piece of paper and began to write.
Will,
I have no time for explanations. Lily and I are in bad straits, being held on an island near Algiers. The Barbary corsair demands theransom at the foot of this message. Castlereagh and Sudbury have been notified, but may balk. See to it.
Richard raised his pen.“See to it?”Will isn’t some flunky, you damned fool. Richard felt himself sink into an abyss; hope ebbed. He thought of the heavy-handed ways he treated his friends, all of them: Jamie, desperate for money; Andrew, wounded and dying in France; Will, fixated on his fields and family. He had forced his solutions on them, and they found their own way, often in spite of him. Will ought to ignore me, he thought. How does one beg for help? He never had to do it before. He pushed on.
Lily is almosteight months gone with our child. I trust your discretion in that matter. You must see the desperation of our situation. I know you, Jamie, and Andrew will do whatever is humanly possible. I count on it. I beg you not to fail.
Richard
His friendswouldn’t fail him. He squeezed his eyes shut and prayed he wasn’t wrong. A noise brought him back to the man across the table. Hamidou showed Richard the signet ring but pulled it back and sealed the messages himself. Richard choked back the urge to snatch it from him.
“Uncle admires this ring,” Hamidou told him, “but perhaps if the money comes, and if you do as I say, you may have it back. Perhaps. We will send by fastest ship to Malta.”
“Gibraltar. They will get it to London faster,” Richard said.
While he scrawled the addresses on each missive, Hamidou turned to his men in hurried conversation. The discussion went on at some length, but the men appeared to reach agreement.
“Gibraltar is more difficult to approach,but we will do it. Speed is good,” Hamidou said. He handed the messages to three men who left immediately.
Richard rose to follow them, anxious to get to Lily. Hamidou’s hand pulled him back.
“English lord,” Hamidou said, “You will come to no harm at my hand.”
“What of your men?” Richard looked directly at Scarface when he said it.
“They do as I say.”
Richard’s shoulders and back sagged with relief until he noticed the hard black look in Hamidou’s eyes.
“You will see no harm if the ransom comes.” Hamidou held his eyes, and Richard felt his heart pound in his throat.
“My cousins have needs,” the pirate said. “If the ransom does not come in sixty days, we will sell you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Berber women chattered like women anywhere, sharing hot sweet tea and nibbling figs and dates. The latter, Lily surmised were a treat, having come from off-island with Rais Hamidou.
When Richard had been led away, two other women had crowded into the little hut, bringing treats. Their generosity touched Lily. The eyes of all three were avid with curiosity. Lily’s grasp of the language had not progressed enough to understand all of the rapid talk, but they appeared to bear her little ill will. At least not immediately.
If the fabric of her gown and shawls interested them, her red hair fascinated. All four touched and smoothed both hair and gown while Lily forced herself to be still.
Generosity doesn’t mean they wouldn’t sell me to the slavers in a heartbeat. If Richard fails?—
She couldn’t bring herself to finish that thought. As if disturbed by her mother’s emotions, the baby began to kick.
The women smiled at that and burst into chatter again. One word dominated talk that followed. Baby, Lily suspected. With simple words in Berber, a smattering of Turkish and gestures, the women made it clear they wanted to know how far along she was. She held up seven fingers and said “month” in Turkish, then “moon,” in case they didn’t understand.
The oldest one clucked and shook her head. She said somethingto the woman who brought food, the youngest of them, who seemed to have the best command of Turkish.
“It will be soon, then,” the young woman said.
Tears sprung to Lily’s eyes. Soon. Even if Richard’s negotiations went well, she doubted rescue would come soon. Regret flooded into her. She regretted the foolish notion to leave the Seraglio. She regretted leaving England. She regretted resisting Richard’s proposal in the first place.I’ve put you in danger, little one. I am sorry.
