‘Come back in, my dear,’ said the Pasha.
Jane knew
she should upbraid him for his conduct and beg him to release the two
unfortunate women, but before she could gather her wits together, the Pasha
gestured to her to sit on a cushion by his feet.
‘Yes, as you
heard, I am sending them to Hamid Effendi. He will see to it that they become
delightful and willing slaves.’
‘You mean you will send them to a slave dealer to be
circumcised and trained for your harem, before having them mated!’ said Jane
angrily.
‘Of
course. That's why I bought them - and at considerable cost I may say. I made a
fuss when they cursed and spat at me in front of the rest of the harem, but I
always anyway intended that to be their fate. That's half the fun of owning a
European mother and daughter.’
‘Oh, you're just odious and cruel,’ cried Jane in
despair.
‘Not
at all. Owning them is going to give me great pleasure, both mental; watching
being made to perform together; and physically together in my bed. Of course, I
don't need the assistance of Hamid Effendi merely for that. No, my own eunuchs
are quite capable of training them to perform together in my bed or before me
as a little amusement. Sending them to Hamid's is merely a blind to prevent
them from realising what really is going to happen to them - particularly to
the exquisite young Myriam.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ah!
That's a secret.’
‘Oh! But you mustn't do anything dreadful to them.
They're a mother and daughter!’
‘All
the better! A well-educated European mother and daughter is a rare prize for my
harem. And anyway, apart from the occasional curved bellies, they will now be
assured of a comfortable and healthy life, being looked after by eunuchs, never
having to worry where their next meal comes from and never having to fight off
the attentions of strange men.’
‘You mean,’ said Jane angrily, ‘being constantly
terrified of being beaten by eunuchs.’
‘Bah!
It's natural for women to be beaten. It's good for them! They even find it
exciting being beaten in front of me. And, as I've already told you, the
treatment may make a lot of noise but doesn't do much real harm. If your
Christian religion told men to beat their woman as ours does, Europe would be a
happier place.’
Jane lowered her eyes, feeling herself blush. Her anger at the Pasha was
immediately replaced by a feeling of ... of what? Of wondering how she would
react if she were one of the Pasha's slaves? Of how she would react if she were
in his power? The Pasha's voice, the voice she found so madly attractive,
interrupted her confused thoughts.
‘But, of course, you would not understand. You are not one of my slavegirls. You are my honoured visitor, the fiancé of
another man.’ Again he laughed sardonically, making her tremble all over with a
mixture of fear and excitement.
Suddenly
he changed the subject. ‘So you want to see the inside of the establishment of
Hamid the slave dealer, do you?’ He did not wait for her to confirm or deny it,
he just swept on. ‘Very well, but there is no way that you could ever be
allowed in as a free European woman; you would have to go in the guise of a slavegirl. Do you understand?’
To go there
disguised as a slave girl! Goodness, it was all getting more and more exciting.
Her eyes were still demurely lowered to the ground and she could not bring
herself to raise them to meet those of the Pasha. She simply nodded her assent.
‘Now listen carefully. As you know, I am sending Juliette and her
daughter to Hamid for a month's intensive ... training and ... something else.
This latter will ensure that they will each return a much more submissive
woman, a woman more eager to please. It will also prevent them from getting any
ideas above their station. A circumcised and branded Frenchwoman, due soon to
carry a black progeny, is hardly likely to be eager to escape back to France,
no matter how sophisticated she is - nor is her daughter.’
‘Oh!’
cried Jane.
‘Of course, you're not going to be circumcised or
branded, but I think you'd be impressed by the extent of Hamid's training
arrangements. Do you follow me?’
Indeed she
did! The idea of being trained for use by the Pasha was madly exciting. Too
thrilled to trust herself to say anything, she continued to sit still, her eyes
lowered, the Pasha's voice dominating her thoughts.
‘Well, when
Hamid has girls sent to him for training, they are always first shown round on
arrival, so that they get a good idea of what they are in for and of the
standards that they must reach. He finds that in this way the girls co-operate
better - if only out of fear. He then examines them to decide whether they are
suitable. So I will send you with Juliette and her daughter, nominally as
merely another slavegirl, about whose suitability for
training I would like his opinion.’
‘My suitability for training!’ wailed Jane, now
genuinely alarmed. ‘You aren't planning to leave me there?’
‘Certainly
not! Mansour and Ali, who will be taking all three of you to Hamid tomorrow
morning, will have strict orders to bring you back again. We don't want Mr Lascelles to lose his fiancée, do we? They will simply tell
Hamid that I am going to have you circumcised before sending you back to him to
start your training.’
‘Circumcised! Not me!’
Quite apart
from the Pasha's plans for Juliette and Myriam, Jane
remembered with horror how Phileda had told her how
she had been casually circumcised at the order of the Pasha when he bought her.
‘Yes,’
laughed the Pasha, ‘I'm sure that Phileda has told
you that we Turks often like to circumcise some of the Christian girls in our
harems, to emphasise our power over all of them. It's an old custom in harems.
It makes it harder for a woman to enjoy making love, so that she has to try
harder and go on longer, much to the delight of her Master. However, I myself
like a mixture of circumcised girls and more responsive ones.’
Jane shuddered at hearing from the Pasha himself what Phileda
had already told her. Female circumcision! The Turks seemed obsessed about it.
How terrible! And all for the vanity and amusement of one man! Jane looked up
horrified at the Pasha, but he cut her protest short.
‘Don't worry! You are my guest here. No one is going to do it to you
really, though I admit it would be a good joke to play on your Mr Lascelles - though perhaps he would not even notice the
difference. Anyway, you will be quite safe and yet able to satisfy your natural
curiosity, the curiosity of any young woman, as to what goes on in the house of
a slave dealer specialising in dealing with high grade white women being sold,
trained and, often, circumcised as pleasure slaves.’
‘Oh!’
said Jane. She did not know whether to be relieved or shocked. She could not
help feeling excited, however, at the thought of what she was going to see.
‘Of course, the eunuchs will have to prepare you so
that you genuinely look like a slave, a slave who I am considering for my
harem, after training and circumcision. And you must not under any
circumstances speak English. Hamid must not suspect you are a free woman. He
will be told you were just another abducted woman - part of the pre-set
problems with the Armenians, like the other two. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,
I see,’ she murmured. But what had he meant by 'prepare you so that you look
like a genuine slave'? She was too shy to ask.
‘Very well then, go back now with Ali to the guest
wing and rest properly before tomorrow's visit.’