Falcon's Prey
Synopsis:
Felicia accepted there would be hurdles to overcome when she agreed to
accompany her fiance, Faisal, to his homeland: she was an ordinary
English girl, and he was an Arab from an immensely wealthy family But
there was one particular problem she hadn't bargained for--Faisal's
uncle, Sheikh Raschid al Hamid alSabah.
It wasn't just Raschid's mistaken conviction that Felicia was an
unprincipled gold-digger that was causing her alarm. It was the slowly
awakening realisation that she might have become engaged to the wrong
man .
Chapter One
the restaurant was well known and expensive, and Felicia had to pretend
to be unaware of the waiter's contemptuous appraisal of her shabby coat
as she hurriedly surveyed the occupants of the tables.
Her spirits lifted when she saw Faisal, and the waiter, plainly
reviewing his opinion of her when he saw with whom she was to dine,
cleared a path for her with an alacrity which she secretly found
amusing. It spoke volumes for the power of money, she reflected, as
Faisal pushed back his chair and stood up, an appreciative smile
lighting his handsome features.
"I'm sorry I'm so late," she apologised as they sat down.
"I was late leaving the office."
"The office! Zut! Have I not told you before to give up this
worthless job?" Faisal demanded with an arrogance that slightly
dismayed her.
An attractive girl, with auburn hair that curled on to her shoulders
and sombre green eyes that hinted at a natural reserve, Felicia was
unaware of the assessing glances of some of the other diners. Although
her neat ribbed jumper and toning tweed skirt instantly placed her
apart from the elegant creatures in silks and furs who sat at the other
tables, she had a lissom grace which automatically drew the male eye.
That Faisal was aware of this was obvious from the jealous looks he
gave these other men who dared to looks upon his Felicia; but Felicia
herself was completely unaware of the slight stir caused by her
entrance.
She had known the young Kuwaiti for just six breathless weeks. A
mutual interest in photography had led to their initial meeting at
night school classes and one or two casual dates had grown into regular
thrice weekly meetings, and more latterly dates most nights of the week
as Faisal grew increasingly possessive.
With Faisal's insistence that he take her out to lunch most days of the
week, and dates nearly every night as well, it had proved impossible to
keep their romance a secret from the other girls in her office. At
first they had teased her unmercifully, until they realised that the
affair was becoming serious. Then their lighthearted teasing had
turned to warnings of a more serious nature as they repeated direful
tales of what could happen to European girls foolish enough to take the
promises of rich Middle Eastern males too seriously. Felicia kept her
own counsel. She was sure that Faisal respected her too much to hurt
her in the way that they were suggesting, but even so, she had been
surprised and then flattered when he began to talk about marriage.
During these talks he had told her a good deal about his family, just
as she had told him about her parents, dying so young and so tragically
when she was little more than a baby, and leaving her to be brought up
by Aunt Ellen and Uncle George in their bleak granite house on the
Lancashiremoors.
Her childhood had not been a happy one. Uncle George had been a strict
and unbending guardian, whose constant rejection had built up in her a
lack of self-confidence coupled with the feeling that in failing to
gain his love she had somehow failed as a human being. Consequently,
in the warmth of Faisal's readily expressed adoration she had begun to
bloom like a plant brought out of the frost into a tropical
conservatory.
Faisal's stories of his own childhood enchanted her, and she often
reflected upon how fortunate he had been to be brought up surrounded by
the love of his mother and sisters. If only she too might have been
part of such a happy family!
She readily admitted that Faisal had swept her off her feet. They had
not known one another nearly long enough, she protested when he talked
beguilingly of marriage, but Faisal swept aside her protests. They
were made for one another. How could she deny it? How could she, when
he wrapped her in the protective warmth of his love? She had said
nothing of this to the girls at work. Faisal merely wanted her as a
playmate to while away his time in London before returning home to make
a 'good' marriage, arranged by his family, they warned her, but Felicia
knew that this was not so.
She and Faisal were not lovers. He had been at first reproachful, and
then approving of her refusal to give in to his pleas that she spend
her nights with him as well as her days.
Her refusal had nothing to do with being prudish, or a calculated
holding out for something more permanent than an affair. The truth was
that Felicia was half frightened of such as yet unknown intimacies. In
her teenage years Uncle George had been far too strict to permit her to
indulge in the usual sexual experimentation of her peers, and as she
had grown older she had developed a fastidious hesitancy about
committing herself to any purely physical relationship. The first time
Faisal had kissed her, he had been gentle, and almost reverent. But
more lately, as his desire for her increased, Felicia had to confess to
a feeling of nervous, spiralling alarm. And yet what was there to be
afraid of? she chided herself.
Faisal loved her. He had said so on many, many occasions, and she had
agreed to be his wife. At first she had been anxious in case her
inexperience made him turn to another, more willing girl, but to her
surprise he seemed to approve of her hesitancy, even while he railed
against it.
"It will be different once we are married," he had soothed one evening
when his emotions had threatened to get out of control, and Felicia had
moaned a small protest at the passion of his kiss, but she had been
comforted by his words. Even now she could hardly believe that someone
actually loved her. After all, she reflected humbly, there was nothing
special about her; thousands of girls had creamy skin and red-gold
hair; and thousands more had slender, elegant bodies; she was nothing
out of the ordinary.
Faisal told her that she was far too modest. He told her that her eyes
were as green as an oasis after rain, and her hair the colour of molten
sand as the dying rays of the sun scorched it. He likened her body to
the movement of a falcon in flight, and told her that with her
milk-white skin and soft, vulnerable mouth she was his heart's
delight.
Already, despite her protests, he had bought her a ring--a flashing
emerald to match her eyes, and so patently valuable that when she saw
it Felicia had caught her breath in dismay.
Ten days ago Faisal had written to his family in Kuwait telling them of
his intentions. Over the weeks Felicia had heard a good deal about
Faisal's family- his mother and two sisters, the life they led, but
most of all Faisal had talked about his uncle, who, upon the death of
Faisal's father, had become the head of their household. Although it
was never said directly, Felicia sensed that there existed a certain
amount of constraint between Faisal and his uncle, and guessed that the
older man did not always approve of the actions of the younger.
Felicia already knew that through his mother and uncle, Faisal was
related to the ruling family of Kuwait and that this uncle had done
much for the bereaved family, even to the extent of taking them into
his own home and undertaking all the responsibility for the education
of Faisal and his sisters.
The tribe to which Faisal belonged had come originally from the desert;
fierce, proud warriors with a long history of tribal warfare and
bloodshed. As recently as the lifetime of Faisal's great-grandfather
the tribes had waged war upon one another, and Faisal had confided to
Felicia that his uncle's grandmother had been an English girl, plucked
from the desert by a hawk-eyed chieftain whose prompt action had
probably saved her life. She was the daughter of an explorer, Faisal
went on to explain, and as a reward for his timely rescue the desert
chieftain had claimed the hand of his pale-skinned hostage in
marriage.
Privately Felicia thought the story unbelievably romantic. She had
longed to ask Faisal more about the couple, and found it vaguely
comforting to know that there was already English blood running through
the veins of the family into which she would be marrying.
Nowadays Faisal's family no longer roamed the desert, for Faisal's
maternal grandfather had founded a merchant bank at the time that oil
was first discovered in Kuwait, and now that bank had offices in
New York and London, ruling a financial empire so vast and complex that
Felicia's head spun whenever Faisal tried to explain its workings to
her. As he had also told her, and not without a hint of annoyance,
this empire was directly controlled by his uncle, who was the majority
shareholder, and who, therefore, had the power to manipulate Faisal, as
an employee, very much like a pawn on a chessboard.
That Faisal should find this irksome, Felicia could well understand.
She too had suffered from the dictatorial attitude of an unkind
guardian. However, some of Faisal's sulky observances concerning his
uncle she was inclined to take with a pinch of salt. Faisal was an
extremely wealthy young man, by anyone's standards, kept short of
nothing that would make his life more comfortable, and if his uncle was
insisting that he learn the ropes of their business from the bottom
upwards, so to speak, wasn't this, in the long run, a sensible method
of preparing him for the responsibility which would one day be his?
However, today Faisal seemed more inclined than usual to complain about
his uncle, and sudden uneasy intuition made Felicia ask anxiously:
"Have you heard something from Kuwait, Faisal?"
His dark eyes flashed angrily, reminding her for a moment how very
young he was--barely twelve months older than her.
"My uncle thinks we should wait before announcing our engagement," he
admitted at last.
"He is doing this deliberately. He does not want me to be happy."
"But we have only known one another a short time," Felicia soothed.
"And it's not as though your family know me at all. Naturally they
must be anxious." She broke off to stare at Faisal, wondering what had
changed his anger suddenly to excitement.
"What have I said?" she asked in bewilderment.
"It is nothing--just that you voiced Uncle Raschid's own doubts. You
have never met my family and because of this he would have us delay our
engagement, but I have thought of a way to outwit him, my Felicia, and
force him to admit that he is wrong when he says that East and West
cannot live in harmony. In his letter my uncle suggests that you might
go to Kuwait to see for yourself how we live. Oh, I know what is
behind his invitation," he added, before Felicia could speak.
"He thinks that you will refuse--that you are as those other European
girls who flock around us like vultures to meat--but we shall prove him
wrong, you and I. Once we are married there will be no need for us to
spend much time in Kuwait, and Raschid knows this. Still he insists
that you must accustom yourself to our ways. I know what is behind his
thinking, but it will not work. Tell me you will go to Kuwait,
Felicia, and prove him wrong in his assessment of you."
Felicia was taken completely off guard. Whatever reaction she had
expected from Faisal's family it was not this! It was becoming
increasingly plain that Faisal's uncle did not want him to marry her.
But why not? Didn't he consider her as worthy of Faisal as a Kuwaiti
girl? The thought sparked off instant anger and her chin lifted
proudly. If Faisal wanted her to go to Kuwait with him to prove to
this uncle just how wrong he was, then she would.
"When are we to go?" she asked determinedly, dismayed when Faisal
flushed slightly.
"I cannot go, Felicia," he muttered.
"Uncle Raschid has given orders that I am to start work at the New York
office in a week's time."
Felicia could barely take it in.
"A week? But..."
"Raschid is determined to part us," Faisal announced bitterly.
"He knows I cannot ignore his command. Despite the fact that he is my
uncle, I am only an employee until I get my shares--but that is not
until I am twenty-five, another three years."
"I could come to New York with you," Felicia said eagerly, trying to
find a way round Raschid's edict.
"I could get a job, I..."
Faisal shook his head regretfully.
"It is not that simple, my lovely one. To get a job you would need a
visa, which would not be easily forthcoming. Of course you could
simply accompany me, but then Raschid will claim that you are my
mistress, and my mother and sisters could then never acknowledge you.
No. " he said bleakly, 'the only way is for you to convince Raschid
that he is wrong, that you are not what he thinks you." He grasped her
hands, his eyes pleading, and Felicia felt her anger melting.
"Promise me you will go ... for the sake of our future together. My
mother will make you truly welcome, and Raschid will be forced to
acknowledge his error."
Unable to deny how pleasurable this prospect was, Felicia still frowned
a little. Kuwait--a civilisation away. And yet if she refused. She
would go! She would show Faisal's uncle that English girls could be
just as chaste as those of his own race. She would show him just how
worthy of Faisal's love she was! He was Uncle George all over again,
she thought resentfully, rejecting her, casting her aside as though she
were some sort of inferior being. Well, she would show him!
The rest of the meal passed in a daze for Felicia. A thousand
questions clamoured for answers.
Not for one moment did she believe that Faisal's uncle cared about her
accustoming herself to their ways--no, he merely wanted to prove to her
how unsuitable she was to be Faisal's bride.
Faisal himself had practically admitted as much.
"Raschid will never expect you to accept his invitation," he said with
a good deal of satisfaction, when Felicia conveyed her decision to
him.
Invitation! Command, more like, Felicia thought wrathfully. A command
to present herself for inspection and rejection. Well, for Faisal's
sake she would 'present' herself, but not for one moment was Faisal's
lordly uncle going to be allowed to think that he could pass judgment
on her!
"Come back with me to my apartment," Faisal begged her when they had
finished eating.
"There is much I must tell you about my family and our ways..."
Normally Felicia avoided being too much alone with Faisal, but tonight
she did not demur, and in the taxi she plagued him with questions about
his country.
"Shall I have to wear a veil or go into purdah?" she asked him
anxiously.
Faisal shook his head.
"Of course not. The older generation still adhere to those ways, but
nowadays our girls are well educated, part of the emancipation that has
swept our country. You will love Kuwait, Felicia, as I do myself.
Although I must confess that I also love London, for different reasons.
"
The sudden passion she saw flaring in his eyes made Felicia glad that
the taxi had stopped. Faisal had an apartment in an expensive and
exclusive Mayfair block, furnished with a modem decor of stark white
walls and carpets, with plushy hide chesterfields in dark leather and a
quantity of smoked glass coffee tables and matching display shelves.
She admired the apartment, but found it too palatial and immaculate;
too impersonal in its stark elegance.
Faisal's manservant greeted them, offering Felicia coffee which she
refused, watching Faisal while he put a tape in the complex hi-fi
system stacked in one corner of the huge room. The haunting and
evocative sound of the Carpenters swept the room; Faisal pressed a
button, instantly dimming the lights, the heavy off-white curtains
shutting out their aerial view of London.
As he took her in his arms, Felicia felt herself stiffen slightly. Why
couldn't she relax? she chided herself. Faisal meant her no harm. He
was, after all, the man she was going to marry. What was the matter
with her? Why could she not abandon herself to the passion she had
heard other girls discussing so frankly?
"What is wrong?" Faisal whispered, unconsciously reiterating her own
thoughts.
"You stiffen and tremble at my touch like a dove in the talons of a
hawk," he told her indulgently.
"When we are parted, I shall dream of the moment when I lift the gold
necklace from your bridal caftan and unfasten the one hundred and one
buttons, to discover the one thousand and one beauties of your body. Do
not worry," he assured her confidently, 'your reluctance is as it
should be. You are as chaste as the milk-white doves my mother keeps
in her courtyard, and soon my uncle shall know that for himself. "
There was a certain element of satisfaction in his words, but Felicia
could not help trembling a little with fear. Faisal seemed so
confident that once they were married she would respond with passion to
his lovemaking, but what if this should not be so? What if she was
incapable of passion? Although her heart thrilled to his words of
love, her body felt only nervous fear. Faisal's desire for her was
increased by his knowledge that she had had no other lover, she knew
that. But what if this had not been so? Did he love her, or her
chastity? She banished the thought as unworthy. This was undoubtedly
an after-effect of Faisal's disclosure concerning his uncle. It was
only natural that Faisal should place greater importance on purity in
his bride than her own countrymen, it was part and parcel of his
upbringing. And yet this admission served only to stir fresh doubts.
"It is just as well that I am not rich enough to support more than one
of the four wives I am allotted by Allah," Faisal murmured, alarming
her still further, 'for with you in my arms I could want no other,
Felicia. "
It was this knowledge to which she must cling in the weeks ahead,
Felicia reminded herself--not her own lack of reaction to Faisal's
lovemaking. It was only her inexperience that made her doubt her
capacity for response. However, his remark about the four wives
permitted to men of the Moslem faith had also disturbed her. It came
as a shock to remember that he came from a vastly different culture
from her own; a culture that permitted a man more than one wife as long
as he was able to maintain them all in equal comfort; a culture that
made no pretence of being anything other than male-orientated, and yet
the Arab women she had seen were always so serene, Felicia
acknowledged, so candidly appealing; so protected from all the
unpleasantness of life by their male relatives. There was the other
side to the coin, though; harsh punishments for those women who went
against the rulings of the Koran, or so Felicia had read, and she could
not in all honesty picture herself as merely a dutiful plaything,
living only through her husband.
All at once the task ahead loomed ominously. If only Faisal could
accompany her to Kuwait, to ease those first uncomfortable and
uncertain days when she was still a stranger to his family. How subtle
his uncle had been, suggesting this visit; more subtle than she had at
first realised. Although Faisal was a comparatively wealthy young man,
as he had told her, the bulk of his inheritance was tied up in the
family merchant banking empire, held in trust for Faisal by his uncle
until his twenty-fifth birthday. Until that time Faisal was virtually
dependent upon his uncle both for employment and finance. Discarding
the disloyal thought that Faisal could have got round his uncle's edict
simply by finding a job in England as totally impractical, Felicia
acknowledged uneasily that at present it appeared that Faisal's uncle
had the upper hand.
Here she was, virtually committed to journeying alone to a strange
country, forced to court the approval of a man who, she was sure, was
deliberately trying to force her to show herself in a bad light, and
would probably never approve of their marriage.
"Are you sure your mother will like me, Faisal?" she asked in a small
uncertain voice.
"She will love you as I do," he promised.
"It will not be so bad, you will see. I am to spend two months in New
York, and then we shall be together again. Then we shall make plans
for our wedding. Perhaps it is as well that you will be with my
family. That way no other man can cast covetous eyes upon you. You
are mine, Felicia," he told her arrogantly,
unobservant of the faint shadows lingering in her eyes.
Faisal drove her back to her flat himself in the car he kept parked in
the underground car-park provided for the use of the apartment tenants.
It was an opulent Mercedes with cream leather upholstery and every
refinement known to technological man, from a hidden cocktail cabinet
to an in-car phone and a highly sophisticated hi-fi system.
Privately Felicia considered that Faisal drove too fast, but on the one
occasion she had mentioned this to him he had looked so angry that she
had not done so again.
"As you are a guest of my family, it is only right that we should pay
all your expenses," he told her when he stopped the car outside the
small and rather shabby bed sit that had been her home since she first
came to London.
Felicia protested, unwilling for Faisal's family to think of her as
being financially grasping and reminding him that the knowledge that
she had not paid for her own ticket would surely influence his uncle
against her.
"He will not know," he assured her carelessly, 'and besides, you will
need some new clothes, more suitable for our climate. "
It stmck Felicia that perhaps he feared that she would shame him with
her small wardrobe, for she was aware of the importance his people
placed upon outward show, and so, unwillingly, she allowed him to
persuade her to accept the gift of her ticket and save her money for
what he termed 'necessary expenditure'.
The days flew past, with her seeing Faisal every evening. She wanted
to learn as much about the
Y
country she was going to as she could, and often by the time Faisal
took her home her brain was a confused jumble of facts and figures.
Even so, she could not help but admire the tireless energy of the
Kuwait Government when she learned just how much had been achieved in
such a very short span of time.
Even allowing for the fact that the country's vast oil revenues had
made many types of technological advancement possible, the swift
transition from an almost medieval way of life to the twentieth century
left her breathless.
Naturally Faisal was proud of his country's progress, the more so
because his own family had had a large part in it. It was with great
sincerity that he told Felicia of their democratic form of government,
with the Head of State chosen from amongst the descendants of Sheikh
Mubarak al Sabah, who had ruled the country from 1896 to 1915, and was,
even now, referred to simply as "Al Kebir' --The Great.
Although Faisal deliberately played the relationship down, Felicia was
a little dismayed to learn that his family were distantly connected to
the ruling house. Faisal assured her that she must not let this
overwhelm her, but she was beginning to see why his Uncle Raschid might
not approve of Faisal's choice of bride.
Naturally, she was fascinated by this glimpse into another
world--albeit a very rich and exotic one;
however, whenever she tried to voice her doubts as to her ability to
cope with so many changes, Faisal merely laughed, telling her that his
family would adore her.
"Even Raschid will be impressed by your beauty. You have the colouring
of his grandmother," he told her, eyeing her speculatively.
"You will surprise him with your innocence and modesty."
Felicia could only pray that this was indeed so, pressing Faisal to
tell her a little more about his own background.
Nothing loath, he described to her the modern town of Kuwait, which had
now taken the place of the old mud brick port. His family had
extensive financial interests in the new city--their bank had helped
finance the erection of a modem hotel in which they held a controlling
interest, and there were other buildings, office blocks, apartments,
shipping interests; all of which made Felicia uneasily aware of the
vast gap that lay between them.
Kuwait had one of the best social service systems in the world, Faisal
boasted proudly, with excellent schooling, a hospital system that would
have made a Harley Street surgeon pea-green with envy, low-cost housing
for people at the bottom end of the social scale, and very much more.
Felicia was properly impressed, but Faisal shrugged it all aside.
"Much is made possible by money," he told her, "But there is still the
huge vastness of the desert, which Uncle Raschid claims will never be
tamed. For myself I prefer London or New York, and it is in one of
these cities that we shall make our home."
Felicia was surprised that this should make her faintly sorry.
She noticed also that Faisal was at pains to assure her that although
most Kuwaitis were adherents to the Moslem faith, there was no bias
against people of other faiths; nor would she be expected to change her
own religion when they married.
"That at least is something Uncle Raschid cannot hold against you," he
surprised her by saying, 'for although all of us are of the Moslem
faith, because of the great love Raschid's grandfather bore his English
wife, her descendants are of your faith, thus Uncle Raschid himself is
a Christian. "
Christian or not, Felicia was not looking forward to making his
acquaintance--especially without Faisal's comforting support. The
eventual confrontation loomed unpleasantly on the horizon, but not
wanting to burden Faisal with her own worries, she kept her fears to
herself, trying to ensure that their last few days together were as
carefree as possible.
For Faisal's sake she would do all she could to make a good impression
on his uncle, but her pride would not let her adopt the fawning
attitude of a Moslem women to an older male relative-no matter how he
might disapprove of her independence!
With her seat booked, she handed in her notice at work, and carefully
scoured the shops for suitable clothes. Fortunately the early summer
fashions were already on display and she had no trouble at all in
buying half a dozen pretty cotton dresses and pastel- toned
separates.
She hesitated over the purchase of beach clothes, but as Faisal had
told her that the beaches off Failaka Island and the surrounding coast
were particularly beautiful, she succumbed to the lure of the matching
apple-green to welling set of shorts, bikini and jacket. Egged on by
the assistant, she added another bikini in swirling blues and greens
which complemented her eyes, and a plain black swimsuit for good
measure, unaware that its skilful cut emphasised the slender length of
her legs and the unexpectedly full curve of her breasts. One evening
dress in palest Nile green silk completed her new wardrobe, and
although she could barely afford it, Felicia could not deny that the
slender slip of fabric was infinitely becoming, tiny diamante straps
supporting the swathed bodice, the skirt falling in folds to whisper
seductively round slender legs. Her purchases complete, she allowed
herself the luxury of a taxi back to her small bed sit Faisal was
taking her out to dinner and as it would be their last evening
together, she wanted to look her best.
As she put away her new clothes, her eyes alighted on the jewellers'
box which contained the emerald he had bought her. Only the previous
evening they had quarrelled because she refused to wear it until their
engagement had the sanction of his family. He has teased her about
being old-fashioned, but she sensed that to flaunt the opulent stone
before his uncle would immediately set his back up. She suspected that
the older man would hold rigid and old-fashioned views on such
subjects, and while she intended in no way to kowtow to him, she had no
wish to deliberately offend against his opinions.
Even so, it was hard not to feel bitter about his obvious contempt of
her-contempt he had expressed overtly in his letter to Faisal, and this
without knowing the first thing about her! Perhaps it was this
bitterness that made her more reckless than usual, choosing to wear a
dress which had hung unworn in her wardrobe ever since she had bought
it, deeming it too sophisticated and eye-catching.
She had purchased it at the insistence of the colleague with whom she
had gone shopping, and afterwards had regretted the impulsive buy,
deeming it more suitable for the baby blue eyes and blonde curls of her
friend than herself. Not that she had anything against the colour as
such. The dress was black, which she knew suited her creamy skin, but
it was low-cut, with a pencil-slim skirt, slit up one side to reveal
slim thighs, its design emphasising her curves to a degree which made
her feel acutely selfconscious. It was just the sort of dress Faisal's
uncle would expect a gold-digging girl to choose, she acknowledged
wryly as she zipped it up, and she was in two minds whether or not to
change it when she heard Faisal's knock on the door.
His eyes smouldered with desire when she went to let him in, and she
was glad of the long-sleeved jacket which went with the dress, although
she could not help noticing how the matt black fabric made her auburn
hair seem much more vivid than usual, darkening her eyes to a
slumbrous, mysterious jade.
Faisal himself looked extremely smart, dressed in a plum velvet dinner
suit--affected on anyone else, but somehow on him exactly right--his
complexion somehow more olive and Eastern so that she was immediately
reminded of the vast gulf in their cultures.
"I wish we were eating in my apartment-alone- and not in a restaurant
where I must share your beauty with others," Faisal murmured huskily,
capturing her hands.
She tensed as he kissed her, telling herself that with their parting so
very imminent it was no wonder that she felt so nervous. Even so, she
was glad when he released her, bending to help her into her fake fur
jacket.
"Why will you not let me buy you a proper fur?" he grumbled as he led
the way to his car.
"You are very stubborn and foolish. Remember that once you are my wife
I shall have the power to compel you to accept whatever gifts I choose
to bestow upon you."
"Then you may buy me as many fur coats as you please," Felicia retorted
lightly, wishing she could throw off the childhood training which
prevented her from responding to him as lovingly as she would have
wished.
Faisal, however, seemed to notice nothing amiss in her response.
Felicia knew that he would have bought her the sun, the moon and all
the stars if she let him, but she had no intention of accepting
expensive gifts from him before their marriage. She knew from
listening to his friends' conversation what the Arab community thought
of the British girls who gave their favours so freely in return for a
diamond bracelet or a fur, and she wondered if those same girls had the
slightest idea of the contempt in which they were held by their
erstwhile escorts. Soberly she admitted that Faisal's uncle might have
grounds for doubting her suitability as a wife; but surely Faisal was
capable of using his own judgment in these matters? He was not, after
all, a child, and her anger at his uncle's casual dismissal of her
burned afresh, bringing a sparkle to her eyes and a faint flush of
colour to her cheeks.
Faisal had booked a table at one of the newer Mayfair clubs. The club
had a gaming room, which was full of expensively jewelled women and
their wealthy companions, but when they had eaten, it was to the dim
privacy of the dance floor that Faisal led Felicia, taking her in his
arms and holding her closely against him as they swayed to the strains
of the latest poignant ballad.
It was stuffy on the dance floor, cigar smoke mingling with the rich
perfumes of the women, and Felicia had left her jacket behind at their
table. She wished Faisal would not hold her so tightly, nor so
closely, but every time she tried to move slightly away, his
Y
grip tightened, a look in his eyes that warned her of the effect she
was having upon him.
As they danced, she became uncomfortably aware of speculative eyes upon
them as an Arab who had been at the gaming tables wandered across to
watch the dancers.
She was just about to ask Faisal if he knew the onlooker, when he swore
suddenly, releasing her, frowning, as he acknowledged the other man's
presence.
"What's the matter?" Felicia protested, as he attempted to usher her
off the floor.
"Do you know that man? He seems to be trying to attract your
attention."
"He is an acquaintance of my uncle's," Faisal replied tersely.
"And he is bound to tell him that he saw us here together."
"Does it matter?" Felicia protested in some bewilderment, unable to
understand the reason for Faisal's annoyance.
"He is not a man of honourable reputation," Faisal explained.
"I do not wish to introduce you to him, but if I do not, and he tells
Raschid, Raschid will think I have not done so because I am ashamed of
you. He will also think it not fitting that I bring you to such a
place."
"But that's ridiculous!" Felicia started to protest, falling silent as
the Arab suddenly stepped out of the crowd in front of them.
"By the Prophet! Faisal al-Najar!" he exclaimed genially, but Felicia
was aware of the speculation in his eyes, and flushed with
embarrassment at the way they roved her body.
That Faisal was furious she could tell, and despite all the other man's
attempts to draw him into conversation, Faisal stubbornly insisted that
they were on the point of leaving and could not delay.
At first amused by his refusal to acknowledge her presence, Felicia's
amusement gave way to annoyance when he persisted in engaging Faisal in
further conversation. Listening rather half-heartedly to his
description of events which in no way included her, she learned that he
had been at the gaming tables when he saw them dancing and that he had
lost several thousand pounds. Even without Faisal's remarks to colour
her judgment Felicia knew that she would not have liked him. He was
shorter than Faisal, rather squat with small, narrow eyes which flicked
lasciviously over her person to return knowingly to Faisal's angry
face.
"What's all this I hear about you going to New York?" he exclaimed as
they were on the point of leaving.
"Plenty of obliging women there, my friend!"
He gave Faisal a look that made Felicia freeze with resentment, longing
to tell him that she was not Faisal's mistress, but Faisal himself cut
him short, exclaiming angrily, "I have no interest in the charms of
other women. My uncle may have told you that I hope to be married
shortly."
Later, when they were on their way home, Felicia asked Faisal if he
thought it was wise to mention marriage, especially when his uncle had
not yet approved it, but Faisal seemed to have lapsed into a brooding
silence.
"By Allah, that he should dare to look at you so!" he exclaimed
violently, as he swung the car into the road where she lived. His
hands were clenched over the steering wheel, and Felicia wondered if he
was perhaps thinking that had she been an Arab girl the confrontation
would never have been allowed to occur.
"Our last evening together, and it is quite spoiled!" In that moment,
with his handsome face marred by a scowl, Felicia was hard put not to
laugh. He reminded her so much of a small boy, thwarted in some
desire.
"There will be other evenings," she consoled him.
"And I'm coming to Heathrow with you tomorrow. I've never seen
Concorde before. I suppose you're travelling first-class?"
"Is there any other way?" he asked with a touch of hauteur that
reminded her once again of the wide gulf that lay between them. He
stopped the car, taking her in his arms, and kissing her with a fierce
passion that previously he had always held in control. The violence of
his emotions unnerved Felicia. She tried not to shrink under the
pressure of his kiss, but he sensed her withdrawal, releasing her with
a murmured apology.
"I forget how truly innocent you are. But soon we shall be man and
wife, and then I shall teach you to respond to me, my cool white
dove.
I shall write to you, and you must write to me. You will soon be able
to persuade my uncle to relent. "
He sounded so sure, so confident; but Felicia could not share his
confidence. She was full of misgivings. Faisal's uncle would never
accept her, and yet somehow she had to find a way of proving to him
that she would make Faisal as good a wife as any Moslem girl.
Pride sparkled in her eyes. She would do it. She would find a way.
She would show Faisal's uncle the stuff of which English girls were
made!
22-11-07, 01:08 AM
Chapter fourteen
جديد مواضيع قسم الارشيف
العرض العادي
