Sibylla had taken her leave of André’s wife and thanked her for her hospitality. But she was not sure whether Aynur had even been aware. Thomas had had her moved to the quietest room on the estate, as far from the noise of the yard as possible, because she had a high fever and was in severe pain. Thomas had confided to his mother that the wound refused to heal and he was gravely concerned. For all her own heartache, Sibylla sincerely hoped that Aynur, who had taken in her daughter so graciously, would soon be well again.
Thomas and Sabri were also in the courtyard to say good-bye. She beckoned her son. “Will you kiss your mother good-bye and help her into the saddle?”
“Well, now!” André called out at that moment. “What have we here?”
Sibylla and Thomas turned around and watched as Emily, leaning down from her horse, kissed Sabri on the mouth for all to see.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” Thomas mumbled.
André turned to Sibylla. “Did you know about this?”
Her answer was a helpless shrug.
“And when,” he grumbled, “had you planned to tell me?”
“I didn’t know! I just suspected,” she said.
“Women!” André snorted. “Always with their secrets!” He squeezed his cane and marched over to Emily.
Sibylla looked on with concern. “Thomas, did Dr. bin Abdul declare his intentions vis-à-vis Emily to you?”
“I think that’s something he had better discuss with you and Monsieur Rouston. And I really must go check on my patient. Good-bye, Mother.” Thomas helped Sibylla into her saddle and hurried away before she could ask any more questions.
Emily and her father said a tearful good-bye. André gave her horse a pat and followed the little group as far as the gate. He could no longer see the riders, but listened to their voices, the hoofbeats of their horses on the coarse gravel that rolled away down the hill. Then all was quiet.
Suddenly, he felt very much alone. He missed not only his daughter but also Sibylla. He remembered the elation when he had awoken from his unconsciousness and seen her sitting on the edge of his bed. For a few disorienting seconds, he had forgotten Aynur altogether. But Sibylla was right. They could not turn back time. He would continue to live on Qasr el Bahia with Aynur and their children and sometimes with Emily too, while Sibylla stayed in Mogador—his business partner, the mother of his daughter, the woman whose love he had lost.
When he turned around, the courtyard was almost empty. Only Sabri bin Abdul was still there, a forlorn expression on his young face. “Dr. bin Abdul, do you have a moment?”
“Of course, Monsieur Rouston.”
André came straight to the point. “My daughter likes you, Doctor.”
Sabri’s eyes lit up. “I like her too. No, what I mean is, I love her.”
“So you are serious about this love?”
“I am, Monsieur Rouston.”
“And your family?”
Sabri did not hesitate for one second to give his answer. “It will not be easy to convince them, but I will find a solution. Emily is the woman I wish to marry.”
André smiled with satisfaction. He liked the fact that this young man did not resort to excuses or subterfuge. “If Emily wants you—and that is certainly how it looked just a moment ago—you have my blessing.” He patted Sabri’s shoulder. “However, you may still have to persuade Emily’s mother.”
“I—” Sabri started to say.
“Father! Hakim bin Abdul!” Malika came running across the courtyard toward them. “You must come right away! Imma is worse. She’s acting as though the Prince of Darkness has taken hold of her!”
“So you’ve fallen in love with Dr. bin Abdul,” Sibylla stated firmly and handed her daughter a piece of flatbread.
Emily smiled broadly as soon as she heard his name. “Yes, Mother. And he loves me.” She heaped some fresh goat cheese on her bread and took a hearty bite.
The small group of riders had made it halfway and was taking a break by the Oued Igrounzar. Its stony banks were strewn with the lifeless bodies of locusts that had died in the river swollen with winter rain. When the soldiers led the horses to the river to water them, the animals stood up to their fetlocks in dead insects. Sibylla and Emily shuddered at the sight, especially when the wind made the loricate bodies rustle and pop. They had seen only a few live locusts on their ride. The plague had disappeared at the same speed with which it had arrived.
Emily and Sibylla were sitting comfortably on a blanket, enjoying the warmth of the midday sun, and eating a meal consisting of flatbread, goat cheese, olives, and dried dates.
Sibylla threw a few bread crumbs to a foraging sparrow while she searched for the right words. “It is a beautiful thing when two people have found each other. But I want you to be certain of one thing, Emily. Even if the two of you are sure of your feelings for each other, many people will be against you.”
“Including you, Mother?” Emily looked at her seriously.
Sibylla did not know whether to be annoyed or to laugh. With three little words, Emily had succeeded in cornering her. She found herself having to take a stand even though she had not even formed an opinion yet.
“Of course not!” she said emphatically. “Still, I am concerned. I don’t doubt Dr. bin Abdul’s intentions, but have you given any thought to the fact that you won’t be marrying just him but his entire family? And this family has chosen another bride for their son. It is well known in Mogador. Could you accept his family’s rejection?”
“You don’t know that they will reject me!” Emily shot back.
Sibylla took a few dried dates from the napkin spread out between them and offered some to Emily. “Try some, they’re delicious.” She went on in a conciliatory tone, “I have met Sabri’s father several times at the governor’s palace. Haji Abdul bin Ibrahim keeps his distance from the infidels in this country. As the principal of the madrassa and a man who has completed the great pilgrimage to Mecca, he is especially bound. Furthermore, the qaid’s daughter is an excellent choice. Her family is the most distinguished in the city, and—”
“Stop it, Mother!” Emily held her ears. “Stop ruining my happiness!”
“But, Emily!” Sibylla was dismayed as she took Emily’s arm. “That’s not what I ever wish to do.”
“Yes, Mother, it is. You are trying to take away the man I love. But you won’t succeed!”
“I’m merely trying to make you understand that there is more to marriage than love. One’s origin—”
“And that’s why you married Benjamin Hopkins and saved your love for an affair with Father, is that it?”
“That was uncalled for.” To conceal how much her daughter’s words had stung, Sibylla concentrated on the food.
Emily’s eyes welled up. Just a moment ago, she had been so happy and so much in love, but now doubts were creeping in. Did she and Sabri really have a chance, or were they deluding themselves?
“Sabri loves me!” she blurted desperately. “He doesn’t want the qaid’s daughter, he wants me. Why won’t you help us to be happy, Mother? You could talk to his family.”
“Happiness is a funny thing,” Sibylla mused quietly and thought of André. “One day you’re certain that you can never again be happy without that one man, and the next you find out that fate had other plans for you.”
“Please, Mother!” Emily pleaded again.
The captain approached them. “Can we go on, Mrs. Hopkins?”