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‘You have just provedliar’
‘If that is true, possibly he inherited that talent froed without hesitation ‘Your father was no great fan of the truth himself’
Jaul paled beneath his bronzed skin and his hands closed into tight fists, for he could not defend his late father and he would not lie in his defence either His father had been an irredeemable liar and in that moment he could quite understand why Chrissie had refused to accept Lut’s view of Lady Sophie and had preferred to make up her own mind
‘There have not been concubines in the palace for over a century,’ Jaul inforest that that lifestyle was still in existence in the nineteen thirties is incredible, but if it makes you feel any happier I will check those facts with Yusuf this afternoon In Marwan, he is still the acknowledged authority on the history of the royal family Indeed, he wrote a much-admired book on the subject’
‘Don’t place your faith in the belief that your grand that very occasionally her husband could be startlingly naive ‘The book was probably a ash sanctioned and proofread by your father, Jaul I bet there’s not a disrespectful, critical word in it’
As the exact saht had already occurred to Jaul, he sed hard, black lashes lowering over his lustrous golden eyes ‘You are undoubtedly right but Yusuf will tell me the truth on all counts,’ he declared with assurance ‘But nothing can ever eradicate the effect ofme if I too have kept concubines’
Chrissie flushed a slow, painful pink ‘I didn’t ask—’
‘But you were dying to ask,’ Jaul cut in drily ‘Do you trust me so little still? Do you really believe thata dissolute life on their throne? My country wants to be seen as ly strong voice in society I must be seen to practise what I preach in public and in private’
What Jaul said was coht randmother’s presence she had entertained such fantastic suspicions Even more crucially she had not missed the flash of pain in his eyes that she could even think to ask him such a question He was furious too but thankfully not in the same way as his late father He didn’t suffer froue when he lost his temper but the downside of those positives was that he would be prettyover in depth
‘I’an to turn away ‘It was stupidbut just for a moment I felt I had to know for sure,’ she endeavoured to explain, struck to the heart by his condemnation but not sure she could blame him for it
‘If you appreciated how prim and proper my father was you would never have felt that need,’ Jaul asserted with a wry curve of his sensual ainst immorality in every form inside and outside the palace He was a repressive ruler One ofin public places If it s, I will ask Yusuf to fill randmother’
As Jaul left the roo of that concession, Chrissie slumped down on a sofa Maybe she shouldn’t have interfered by visiting Lady Sophie, she reasoned heavily She had waded in blindly, seeing herself as doing soood and helpful but in actuality she had hurt and offended Jaul His self-control in the face of the provocation she had offered could only eination nor her tongue In the circu and that sha to love a woh to ask him if he kept concubines, was he?
Jaul spent a couple of hours talking to his father’s former aide Yusuf left, relieved to have cleared his conscience of the secrets he had kept throughout his working career Jaul, however, was in a far less happy frame of mind In point of fact, he was stunned, furious and bitter and as soon as the keys he had requested were brought to hiht of stairs in a far corner A servant wrestled with the giant key and then Jaul waved his guards back and entered the building alone