“You said your accomplice is the Sultan’s favourite?”
“She is a Circassian and very beautiful,” Yamina explained. “She was my maid in Balaclava and was kidnapped by the Sultan’s agents.”
She saw that Lord Castleford was interested and went on,
“The White Eunuch who spoke to you and gave you the key of the trunk was also in my father’s service. He also was abducted nine years ago. He has altered a great deal since.”
“Eunuchs do,” Lord Castleford said, “and the cruelty of it appals me!”
Yamina gave a little shiver.
“Even now I can hardly believe that I have escaped! Better, far better to be a prisoner of war of the English than to have to stay in the harem. Every moment I was there made me more and more frightened.”
“I expect you will go down in history as one of the few women who eve
