“Thank you for caring,” she said. “Not very many people would involve themselves in something so dangerous.”
He nodded, accepting her gratitude. He began to pace the width of the cabin, trying to find the courage to continue, worried he was just going to anger her as he had before.
“The night you were released from the harem, when you appeared educated and refined enough to pass as… as… a proper wife to someone like myself, and you said you were a gentleman’s daughter, and that you had a brother… Well, that’s when I conceived our arrangement. Regardless of what you believed, or heard, I never intended anything other than marriage, as it is the only way to have an heir whose legitimacy will never be questioned.”
He stood again and walked to the bank of windows and stared at the watery ho
