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Authors: Michael Pearce
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drop a word, but Chloe was really too low in the pecking order to be worth exchanging many words with.
Nevertheless, the maids? Did they ever have a chance to enter into conversation at the door?
Well, they might – he knew what women were. But the eunuch on duty wouldn’t let them talk too long, they had work to do, and the royal wives would be angry if they summoned a maid and she wasn’t immediately available.
What about the royal wives themselves? Did they ever come to the door?
No. Well, the Lady Irina had come to the door recently to complain about a crack in one of the plates. She had pointed it out to the eunuch, and the eunuch had pointed it out to Chloe, and Chloe had dissolved into tears, and the eunuch had said she was a silly girl, and the Lady Irina had got into a temper and said that it was nothing to do with Chloe, it was for the eunuch to sort out. She had spoken very intemperately to the eunuch and he had been very much hurt. He would have complained, but there was no one at the moment for him to complain to. He had mentioned it to Ali, and Ali had remonstrated with the Lady Irina, but she had told him to piss off, which was not a seemly thing for a royal wife to say, and the wives were beginning to get out of hand and His Highness should do something about it –
Okay, okay. Leave the food. Does anything else go into the harem? Medicine, for instance? He had heard that medicine sometimes passed into the harem.
Well, of course, if the doctor prescribed it. There had been a lot of doctors lately, usually to see His Highness, of course. But sometimes while they were there the royal ladies sought to take advantage of it and called them in – Into the harem?
No, no. The wife would be taken out of the harem and put in a separate room, behind a screen, and the doctor could talk to her there.
With a eunuch present?
Of course.
Seymour asked if he could have the doctors’ names. There were twelve of them.
‘Just the ones called into the harem, please.’
That reduced the list to five: an eminent Italian specialist who had since returned to Rome, an equally eminent (although this was disputed by the Greeks) specialist from Istanbul who had been visiting relatives in Salonica, and who had returned to that city, a Frenchman working in Athens, and two Greeks. The second Greek name on the list was that of Dr Metaxas.
Seymour went to see the other Greek and the Frenchman that afternoon. They had both prescribed medicines for ladies of the harem, the Frenchman a purgative, the Greek a sedative. Neither had thought their patients in any danger, or indeed, ill.
‘Nerves,’ said the Greek specialist.
‘Biliousness,’ said the Frenchman.
And the cat, said Seymour; had they been called on to prescribe anything for the cat?
They both looked at him strangely.
He had arranged to meet Samira at five o’clock. Or, rather, she had arranged to meet him. Could she do that? With all these restrictions on access to the harem and the ‘degree of invigilation’ that prevailed? He had assumed that the ladies of the harem were totally controlled, suppressed, supine, unable to take any initiative whatsoever. Admittedly, Samira and Irina could hardly be described as subdued but the impression he had of the others was that subjugation had drained away all capacity of initiative, leaving them inert and resigned to their lot, content to stay within the rules laid down for them.
But could the rules be bent? It seemed so, if Samira could indeed override the system. And at first it looked as if she could. Just before five Seymour was hanging around, not exactly expecting to see her but anxious not to lose the opportunity if he could, when along came Talal, the eunuch. Seymour learned later that the time of five o’clock was not casually chosen. It was when Orhan, the Vizier’s assistant, was still at his rest and supervision left to the eunuchs, who were more subject to being overborne.
He led Seymour into a small
Nevertheless, the maids? Did they ever have a chance to enter into conversation at the door?
Well, they might – he knew what women were. But the eunuch on duty wouldn’t let them talk too long, they had work to do, and the royal wives would be angry if they summoned a maid and she wasn’t immediately available.
What about the royal wives themselves? Did they ever come to the door?
No. Well, the Lady Irina had come to the door recently to complain about a crack in one of the plates. She had pointed it out to the eunuch, and the eunuch had pointed it out to Chloe, and Chloe had dissolved into tears, and the eunuch had said she was a silly girl, and the Lady Irina had got into a temper and said that it was nothing to do with Chloe, it was for the eunuch to sort out. She had spoken very intemperately to the eunuch and he had been very much hurt. He would have complained, but there was no one at the moment for him to complain to. He had mentioned it to Ali, and Ali had remonstrated with the Lady Irina, but she had told him to piss off, which was not a seemly thing for a royal wife to say, and the wives were beginning to get out of hand and His Highness should do something about it –
Okay, okay. Leave the food. Does anything else go into the harem? Medicine, for instance? He had heard that medicine sometimes passed into the harem.
Well, of course, if the doctor prescribed it. There had been a lot of doctors lately, usually to see His Highness, of course. But sometimes while they were there the royal ladies sought to take advantage of it and called them in – Into the harem?
No, no. The wife would be taken out of the harem and put in a separate room, behind a screen, and the doctor could talk to her there.
With a eunuch present?
Of course.
Seymour asked if he could have the doctors’ names. There were twelve of them.
‘Just the ones called into the harem, please.’
That reduced the list to five: an eminent Italian specialist who had since returned to Rome, an equally eminent (although this was disputed by the Greeks) specialist from Istanbul who had been visiting relatives in Salonica, and who had returned to that city, a Frenchman working in Athens, and two Greeks. The second Greek name on the list was that of Dr Metaxas.
Seymour went to see the other Greek and the Frenchman that afternoon. They had both prescribed medicines for ladies of the harem, the Frenchman a purgative, the Greek a sedative. Neither had thought their patients in any danger, or indeed, ill.
‘Nerves,’ said the Greek specialist.
‘Biliousness,’ said the Frenchman.
And the cat, said Seymour; had they been called on to prescribe anything for the cat?
They both looked at him strangely.
He had arranged to meet Samira at five o’clock. Or, rather, she had arranged to meet him. Could she do that? With all these restrictions on access to the harem and the ‘degree of invigilation’ that prevailed? He had assumed that the ladies of the harem were totally controlled, suppressed, supine, unable to take any initiative whatsoever. Admittedly, Samira and Irina could hardly be described as subdued but the impression he had of the others was that subjugation had drained away all capacity of initiative, leaving them inert and resigned to their lot, content to stay within the rules laid down for them.
But could the rules be bent? It seemed so, if Samira could indeed override the system. And at first it looked as if she could. Just before five Seymour was hanging around, not exactly expecting to see her but anxious not to lose the opportunity if he could, when along came Talal, the eunuch. Seymour learned later that the time of five o’clock was not casually chosen. It was when Orhan, the Vizier’s assistant, was still at his rest and supervision left to the eunuchs, who were more subject to being overborne.
He led Seymour into a small
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