A Devil Named DeVere (The Devil DeVere)(82)

"You do not waste your time, Salime."

"Also understand that I do this not for you but only for Effendi, for his happiness."

"I understand," Diana said.

Salime regarded Diana with narrowed eyes. "We shall see. Come now." She rose and led Diana into an adjacent dressing room littered with silk scarves and various articles of richly embroidered clothing. Sizing Diana up, she handed her a pair of diaphanous, Turkish trousers in violet with a matching silver-embroidered tunic, a type of girdle ornamented with bronze coins, and a pair of slippers with silver bells. "Put those on. You must learn to dance."

After an hour of intense instruction that made every muscle in Diana's body scream, Salime remarked, "You dance with the grace and agility of a gravid camel! You must practice and come back tomorrow. You have much to learn."

"Of course," Diana said with humility. The dance Salime had performed with its rhythmic hip gyrations and obscenely erotic undulations had amazed and mesmerized her. She could easily imagine the seductive power of such a dance and wanted desperately to master it.

Salime added several silk scarves and veils to the other garb piled in Diana's arms. "You must wear these when I send for you if you wish to remain unknown. Be certain to fully cover your head and face."

"Thank you, Salime."

The woman answered with a snort.

Diana departed the brothel feeling somehow more alive, self-confident, and more aware of her feminine allure than she had ever been before.

***

The opportunity to ply her new skills came sooner than Diana expected.

"Those heathens have returned, my lady," said Polly. She handed Diana a message that Salime awaited her outside in a hackney.

"Polly," Diana said, "I must go out and cannot say when I shall return, nor can I explain. I may be gone for a week, but please know that I am safe. I only beg for your discretion."

"Anything, my lady. You know there is none more loyal to you."

"I know that, Polly."

"Are you in trouble, my lady?" the maid asked, a frown puckering her forehead.

"I am not in danger if that is your concern, and any so-called trouble is strictly of my own making. I shall be fine." She patted the anxious maid's hand.

"It's that devil DeVere, isn't it?" Polly said with a scowl.

"I don't wish to speak of it," Diana replied. "Pray convey to Mustafa that I need a few minutes to prepare myself, and then you must help me to dress."

"Of course, my lady." Polly bobbed, the expression of disapproval never leaving her face.

***

"You will follow me as a servant," Salime commanded Diana while they waited in the coach parked in the mews behind DeVere House.

Mustafa promptly returned with a message of welcome. "Effendi will receive you in the hammam."

Salime gave a nod of approval, and then she and Diana descended. Entering the house through the servants' quarter, they proceeded through several passages that terminated in the back of the domicile where a separate, small building with a domed roof had been added on. "It is constructed just as those in my homeland," Salime remarked.

Crossing the threshold through the arched doorway, Diana was first struck by the heat and humidity, but then taking in the chamber from its intricately tiled floor to the domed ceiling, she felt as if she had been transported to another time and place. The interior floor and walls were comprised of vibrant mosaics. A gurgling fountain sat at one end, and a raised table constructed of marble commanded the room's center.

"There are three chambers, Khanum, interconnected rooms. This is the s?cakl?k, a hot room containing the marble slab for massage; the second is the warm room for washing, and the so?ukluk is the cool room for bathing," Salime explained. "The other rooms lie beyond and connect to Effendi's private apartments."

Diana was once more struck with a pang at Salime's intimate knowledge of DeVere's domicile and habits. A moment later, the door to the adjacent room opened to reveal the devil himself. Barefoot and garbed in a silk banyan, DeVere entered. Salime rushed forward to kneel at his feet. Diana reluctantly followed suit.

"I was not expecting you, Salime." His voice held a hint of disapproval.

"But it has been much time since you sent for me, Effendi."

"I have been away."

"But now you are returned." Salime smiled. "I beg you will indulge me, as I have acquired an odalisque to train."

"Have you, indeed?" DeVere narrowed his sharp blue gaze at Diana, who with head and face covered, was quick to downcast her eyes.

"Yes, Effendi. I will leave here one day soon and have promised Madam Hayes I would teach another the ways."

"And you wish to use me for her instruction?"

"It is best, Effendi, for you know the customs of the East. You do not mind?"

"I don't recall ever having objected to placing my body in a woman's hands before." DeVere laughed and then fixed his gaze upon Diana. "May I know her name?"

"Didem," Salime was quick to answer. "She has little English, Effendi."

"Ah, then it is a good thing I know her tongue."

Diana slanted Salime a panicked look, but DeVere said no more. His good humor seemingly restored, he dropped his robe and sauntered nude to the marble table. He moved without the least appearance of self-consciousness, with a confident and athletic grace that made Diana's throat dry despite the damp. She watched as Salime laid down a large towel for him to lie upon and rolled another for the purpose of resting his head before he lay facedown on the slab.