In the Tudor Court Collection. Amanda McCabe

she believes that her father would disown her if he knew?’

      ‘It is what she says.’ Michael frowned. ‘I brought her to you as you bid me—and now I ask leave to return to Venice for a while. I have had news of my father. He is unwell and asks for me.’

      ‘Yes, of course you must go to him,’ Lorenzo said at once. ‘I hope you will return to me here as soon as you can?’

      ‘You have my loyalty as always,’ Michael said. ‘But for the moment there is little here that cannot be done by others.’

      ‘Go then with my blessing,’ Lorenzo said and frowned. ‘But the girl—how did she seem to you? Has she been mistreated? You understand my meaning—has she been subjected to rape?’

      ‘I am not certain what to think,’ Michael told him. ‘It is true that she has been kept in the harem, but I do not think she was ill treated there. She asked me several times to let her return to her friends.’

      Lorenzo nodded. ‘I shall keep her with us for a while, and then we shall decide what to do about her father.’

      ‘If you will excuse me, I would leave at once.’

      ‘Of course. May your god go with you, my friend.’

      ‘And with you. Give Kathryn my good wishes.’

      Lorenzo inclined his head. His eyes moved to the Spanish girl. She was very beautiful, her hair black and thick, her eyes dark and her mouth soft and sensuous. Something in the way she looked at him made him vaguely uncomfortable, a knowing, calculating expression that he disliked and thought immodest in an unmarried girl.

      ‘I am sorry for what has happened to you, Donna Maria,’ he said. ‘I shall ask my wife to take care of you. I am not sure what to do about you—though in the end you must be returned to your father. However, it may be that you would prefer to stay with us for a time?’

      ‘Yes, please.’ She came quickly towards him, catching at his hand, her eyes pleading. ‘I do not want to go home.’

      ‘Lorenzo…’ Kathryn came into the hall at that moment, in time to see the girl clutching at his hand. She stopped, frowning and uncertain. Who was this girl? ‘Has Michael left already?’

      ‘He brought Donna Maria Dominicus to us,’ Lorenzo said. ‘We have managed to ransom her from Rachid, and she will stay with us until we can restore her to her family. Will you look after her, Kathryn?’

      ‘Yes, certainly,’ Kathryn said, feeling remorse for her suspicions and pity for the girl, who she knew must have suffered dreadfully. ‘How did you manage this, Lorenzo?’

      ‘I shall tell you later,’ he said. ‘Donna Maria needs clothes. You may have something that she can wear until we can have something made for her.’

      ‘I think we are much of a size,’ Kathryn said readily. ‘If you will come with me, Donna Maria, I shall take you to the room that will be yours. I think you must want to bathe and rest, for you have had a terrible time.’

      ‘You are so kind.’ The girl’s tears fell readily. ‘I have been so very unhappy…’

      ‘You are safe now,’ Kathryn said, her heart touched by the girl’s plight. ‘Come, we shall go upstairs where we can talk and you may ask me for anything you need.’

      Maria glanced at Lorenzo, but, finding no softness in his face, she clung to the hand Kathryn offered, her head bent as she allowed herself to be led away.

      Lorenzo watched them leave. His instinct told him that the Spanish girl was not as upset as she seemed. There was something about her that he could not like, but, having ransomed her, he was honour bound to look after her until she could be restored to her family.

      ‘I was made to wear these things,’ Maria told Kathryn when they were alone and she had shed Michael’s cloak, revealing the flimsy harem pants and tunic. ‘I feel so ashamed.’

      ‘It is not your shame,’ Kathryn told her, angry that the girl had been subjected to such humiliation. ‘You were a captive and had to do as your cruel masters bid you. I have heard that Rachid is one of the worst of the Corsair captains, a ruthless man. We must thank God that you have been rescued before it was too late.’

      ‘They told me I was to be sold to the Sultan,’ Maria told her, her eyes lowered. She wiped her hand across her face. ‘Perhaps I was fortunate that Rachid did not want me for himself.’

      ‘Yes, I am sure that you were,’ Kathryn said. ‘It must have been a terrible ordeal for you.’

      ‘I wish that I had died rather than become a slave. My father will disown me or send me to a nunnery.’

      ‘Surely not, Maria? He will be glad to have you home.’

      ‘I do not think so. I have disgraced him.’ She turned her luminous eyes on Kathryn. ‘Could I not stay with you—as your companion? I promise I would be no trouble to you.’

      ‘It is my husband who makes these decisions,’ Kathryn said, her heart wrung with pity. ‘But I believe you worry too much, Maria. Your father was desperate to have you back.’ She explained what Don Pablo had done to try and trap Lorenzo. ‘That must make you realise that he loves you?’

      ‘Perhaps.’ Maria drew a sobbing breath. ‘But he did not know that I had been kept in a harem with…’ She shook her head. ‘You cannot know what they did to me to make sure that I was…’

      ‘Do not distress yourself, Maria,’ Kathryn said. ‘I shall speak to my husband and see if he will keep you with us, at least until we can be sure what your father feels. I promise you that, if he says you have disgraced him, I shall not let you go back to him.’

      ‘Oh, you are so kind!’ Maria seized her hand and kissed it. ‘I would do anything you asked of me, my lady.’

      ‘No, no, you must call me Kathryn as my friends do. I promise you that you shall not be ill treated for something that was not your fault.’ She smiled at the girl. ‘Our servants will bring you water to bathe in and clothes, also food. You will want to rest this evening, but in the morning we shall talk again. The clothes you are wearing shall be burned.’

      ‘May I not keep them to remind me?’ Maria said. ‘I must keep them to remind me of my modesty and that it was once lost. Please do not make me give them up.’

      ‘Surely you do not want them?’

      ‘Please!’

      ‘As you wish, but you must not think of what happened to you as your shame.’

      Kathryn left the girl to the ministrations of the servants and went downstairs to join Lorenzo. He gave her a look of inquiry.

      ‘She is going to bathe, eat and rest. We shall see her in the morning.’

      ‘I am sorry that I brought her here,’ Lorenzo said. ‘It was not my intention that she should stay with us, Kathryn. I had intended to send her to her father almost at once.’

      ‘She is so distressed. Would it not be kinder to keep her with us for a while? At least until she can become accustomed to what has happened to her? She feels ashamed and it must have been awful for a young girl.’

      ‘There is something I cannot like about her.’

      ‘Lorenzo! You are too harsh,’ Kathryn said. ‘She has been through a terrible ordeal.’

      ‘It would seem so and yet…’ He frowned, uncertain why he felt that it would be best to be rid of the girl at once.

      ‘Please, I ask you to be kind to her—for my sake.’

      ‘For your sake?’ Lorenzo’s eyes narrowed. He moved towards her, gazing down into her eyes. ‘I might do much for your sake, Kathryn.’

      Her eyes widened as she saw the hot glow in his, and she swayed towards him,