Read Online No Woman So Fair by Gilbert Morris - Free Book Online

talk business, Zaroni pulled Sarai aside and told her, “You’ll have to be more outgoing, Sarai. He’s painfully shy.”
    â€œWhy should he be shy? He’s thirty years old. He should have had some experience with women.”
    â€œFrom what he tells me, I don’t think he has. But for that very reason, he is more likely to be a faithful husband to you, Sarai. Be kind to him. I know he admires you. I can see it in his eyes.”
    Sarai was well aware that Abram admired her, for she could gauge the admiration of young men. But she was not sure how to mend the breach between them as a result of her unkindness. The whole next day she thought about it. She had actually gotten over her anger by now, but she still found Abram to be a strange young man. Although he had a good smile and sometimes spoke with feeling about things, she was disturbed that he was so tongue-tied around her. Why doesn’t he say something? she often wondered. Why doesn’t he even try to take my hand or express his feelings for me? That is what most men would do who come around looking for a wife .
    For the next several days, Abram spent much time out with Garai studying the business, although Sarai sensed he did not particularly care for it. More than once he brought in flowers from the fields for Sarai, which pleased her, but it was not enough. She told her mother, “He’ll have to do more than bring flowers if he’s going to win a bride!”
    ****
    At the marketplace one morning Sarai moved slowly past the stalls, accompanied by her maid. Zulda carried a basket for the fruit Sarai selected from the vendors. She ignored their shrill cries of “Buy here, lady! Buy here!”—choosing whatever pleased her the most. She enjoyed her visits to the market, which gave her a good excuse to get out of the house.
    As she looked over the produce she found herself thinking more and more of Abram and wondering how long he would stay. He might as well go home if he’s not going to make any effort to win me , she thought. She was disappointed at his reluctance to woo her, for as her mother had said, the young man did have much to commend him. Perhaps of most importance, he was not old. Sarai had a horror of being given to an old man. And he was not crude, as many of the men had been who had offered themselves. If he would only speak up and show a little more interest in me , she said to herself, realizing by her own inner comment that her pride was hurt. She was accustomed to being courted in a more aggressive manner, and for the first time in her life, it occurred to her, Maybe he doesn’t think I’m attractive . The thought startled her, and as she moved down the line of stalls, she became preoccupied with it.
    She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of screaming. Glancing ahead, she saw a large, burly man beating a young woman no more than fourteen or fifteen with a cane. The girl wore the dress of a slave, and the stick left stripes on her bare shoulders. She cowered on the ground, covering her head with her arms and trying to protect herself, crying piteously as the blows descended.
    Sarai was not an especially cruel young woman, but she had grown up in a society that showed little pity toward the unprotected. Slaves could be beaten at the whim of their master, and this was not the first time Sarai had seen a slave beaten. True, the girl was younger than most, and the man was striking harder, so she felt a brief moment of compassion. But she knew there was nothing to be done. The slave was the absolute property of the owner, and no one could interfere.
    But suddenly a form appeared coming down the street, and Sarai was surprised to see that it was Abram. She was further surprised when he stepped between the burly man and the girl and heard him say, “Sir, she’s young and a valuable slave, I’m sure. Please don’t beat her anymore.”
    The strongly built slave owner