And lend me leave to come unto my love.
Edmund Spenser 22 May 1901 Sheikh Muhammad Abdu shakes his head. The level brows, still black, are knitted over the lowered eyes as he reads the letter addressed to Prince Yusuf Kamal. In the large, austere room, its diwans and cushions covered in plain white fabric, its bookcases rising to the ceiling, the men sit in silence. When he has finished he hands the letter to Sheikh Muhammad Rashid Rida sitting at his side.
"Those people -" he says sadly. "We will never move forward as long as people think in this way."
"Those people have to be educated," Shukri Bey al-Asali says, "and Fadilatuk.u.m is in a position to educate them."
"A word from you would silence them," Sharif Basha says.
"Let me think about this," Muhammad Abdu says. Sharif Basha feels for his old friend. It is his first day back from Istanbul and the stream of well-wishers and pet.i.tioners has not stopped for a moment. Muhammad Abdu looks tired.
"Shukri Bey has been delaying in Cairo to see you," he says. "But if you are tired now we can come back another time."
"No, no," Muhammad Abdu says, "I am at his service."
"We were hoping you would stop by Jerusalem, ya Sayyid-na?" Shukri Bey says.
"Next time, Insha Allah. My hope is to pray one more time in the Aqsa if G.o.d permits."
"And how was your visit to the Sublime Porte?"
"The same as every time." Muhammad Abdu"s smile is weary. "Plots and conspiracies. I was shadowed by the Sultan"s spies everywhere I went -"
"He trusts n.o.body."
"He has reason," Sharif Basha says. "He knows many people want to get rid of him."
"Ya Sayyidna," Shukri Bey says, "I hear the Sultan has just met with Dr Herzl and David Wolffsohn. Is there anything new?"
"I understand they made the same representations," Muhammad Abdu says. "They told him that the Zionists are loyal to the Ottoman throne. That they do not form secret societies like the Armenians or the Bulgar, nor, like them, appeal for help to foreign powers -"
"That is a weave of lies!" Shukri Bey rises to his feet in exasperation. "They refuse to take Ottoman nationality precisely so that - as foreign nationals - they may constantly appeal to the Powers. So that in any dispute with an Arab they have to be tried by their own consuls. How much did they offer him?" Shukri Bey is abrupt in his exasperation. But Muhammad Abdu answers him mildly: "No specific sums were named. They merely said they know his treasury needs money and their friends control one third of the money in the world. If he gives them Palestine, lets them govern themselves there, as they do on Samos -"
"Samos was returned to its people. Its own inhabitants were allowed to govern themselves -"
"That was the model they used," Muhammad Abdu says. "They would in return pay a specified sum to the palace and a yearly tribute."
"And?" Shukri Bey waits, his eyes narrowed, concentrated on Muhammad Abdu"s face.
"Abd el-Hamid listened, but it came to nothing. Izzat Basha al-Abid was there and he frightened the Sultan by telling him the whole province would revolt if he sold the land out from under them."
"Why does he agree to meet them?" Shukri Bey asks. "He turned down their offer to buy Palestine in "96. He knows that is still what they are after."
Abd el-Hamid is very cunning, ya Shukri Bey. I think he is a match for Dr Herzl and more. He is being pressed to consolidate Turkey"s debts - and my belief is he agreed to a meeting with Herzl to throw off the bigger threats."
"Herzl is a threat," Shukri Bey says. "His Jewish Colonial Trust has just bought some prime land in Tabariyyah and the fallaheen are up in arms about it."
"Herzl told the Sultan that he has been in correspondence with Sheikh Yusuf al-Khalidi -"
"He is not "in correspondence," " Shukri Bey cuts in contemptuously: "Al-Khalidi wrote to a friend of his in Paris, Rabbi Zadok Kahn, begging him to use his influence to deflect Zionist interest from Palestine. Kahn showed the letter to Herzl, who took it upon himself to answer."
"So you know all about it?" Muhammad Abdu says.
"Did you see the correspondence?" Sharif Basha asks.
"Yes. Al-Khalidi wrote an emotional letter, invoking History and G.o.d and ending: "Au nom de Dieu, laisse tranquille la Palestine." Herzl wrote a sly one, full of financial temptation and veiled threats -"
"The Jews have always lived in Palestine," Rashid Rida says, "but now -"
"They lived as other people lived," Shukri Bey says. "But now they are coming in thousands. They are supported by the Colonial Trust - look." He takes a newspaper cutting out of his pocket, al-Ahram, 24 April. The paper quotes an item from the American Morning Post reporting that the Zionists had held a big meeting in Milwaukee and started a worldwide campaign to collect contributions from Jews in all countries to buy Palestine from the Sultan.
"They offer a lot of money for land," Shukri Bey says, "and some landlords - the big landlords, the ones who live in the cities - they sell. And the fallah, instead of working the land and giving a share of the crop to the owner, finds himself turned into a hired labourer - or turned off the land. They wish to have nothing to do with the Arabs. Their children don"t attend our schools and they don"t allow our children into theirs. They speak their own languages, run their own affairs, hold on to their nationalities. What are they doing in the midst of us?"
In the silence that follows, Shukri Bey walks over to the window and stands there for a moment. When he returns, Sheikh Muhammad Abdu looks up from his beads.
"I understand your concern," he says. "Personally, I think their dream is impossible. Their Zion is a heavenly place and Heaven cannot be created on earth. But I shall speak to Cattaoui Basha and see what he advises. He would not wish fresh divisions to come among us."
"Indeed we are divided enough already," Sheikh Rashid Rida says.
"It is our destiny," Shukri Bey says, "our luck that we were born in these times."
"Things looked very different in the Sixties and Seventies," Sharif Basha says.
"Perhaps because we were young," Muhammad Abdu says.
"Perhaps it is only when you are young that you can achieve things, make great changes -"
"We are all making changes," Muhammad Abdu says. "Not great changes - not the French Revolution - but small ones that will add up in the end. And the cost will be less."
Sharif Basha smiles. Twenty years ago Muhammad Abdu saw nothing wrong with the French Revolution.
Shukri Bey al-Asali comes forward to take the sheikh"s hand. "I thank Fadilatuk.u.m and I will take my leave and impose on you no longer. But I beg you to remember, al-Khalidi and I are not the only ones who feel uneasy about what is happening in Palestine."
Rashid Rida leaves with Shukri Bey, and Sharif Basha and Sheikh Muhammad Abdu are left alone. The sheikh sighs and draws his hands over his tired face.
"What do you see in all this?" he asks his friend.
"I think it is a matter of concern. And so is the letter I gave you. And the tax on spun thread that Cromer is trying to push through." Sharif Basha shrugs, then leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "But there is something else I want to talk to you about. A big favour I need from you."
"Kheir?" Muhammad Abdu"s eyes are instantly alert. "Command me."
"Tomorrow," Sharif Basha says, "you contract me in marriage -" and as his friend"s face lights up in joy, he adds, "to an English lady: Lady Anna Winterbourne."
Muhammad Abdu studies his friend"s face and asks quietly, "And why tomorrow?"
Sharif Basha leans back in his chair. "Because if it gets known that we intend to do this, you can imagine what will happen. Because I cannot see her until she is safely my wife. Because I have been waiting for you for seventeen days already and I am growing old and have no more time to lose. Do you want more?"
Muhammad Abdu"s eyes have not left his friend"s face. And now a smile spreads over the sheikh"s face until it takes complete possession and he leans forward to embrace his friend.
"Mabrouk ya Sharif Basha. May G.o.d complete it for you in all good." He holds him away, claps his shoulder and embraces him once again.
And as I put my signature to the contract Mabrouka"s joy-cry trilled out loud and true and n.o.body thought to stop her. Sharif Basha"s friend Sheikh Muhammad Abdu married us, and if any human has the power to bring down a blessing, then truly it is that holy man. The Contracts were in both Arabic and French - and indeed, both are in Anna"s trunk, contracting "the Lady Anna Winterbourne (Christian) daughter of Sir Edmund DeVere (deceased) and Lady Aurora DeVere (deceased) and widow (of the late Captain Edward Winterbourne of the 21st Lancers in her Britannic Majesty"s army) of sound mind and of legal age, in marriage to Sharif Basha al-Baroudi (Muslim), Landowner and Notable and Member of the Consultative Legislative Council and by profession a Lawyer." The contract notes that Sharif Basha"s sidaq to Lady Anna is the sum of five thousand pounds Egyptian. I do some calculations and decide that this money would have bought 120 faddans of prime land. Sharif Basha pledges a further twenty thousand pounds should he divorce Lady Anna against her wishes and he moreover bestows upon her an equal authority to effect a divorce. A clause is also added stating that in the event of Sharif Basha availing himself of his legal right to take another wife, the divorce would take effect and the balance of the sidaq be payable from that moment. The contracts are witnessed by Husni Bey al-Ghamrawi and Shukri Bey al-Asali and officially registered on the same day: 23 May 1901. The day that Anna closes the secret blue book and returns once again to the big, handsome green volume.
- and though I demurred on some points - for the Contracts made it appear as though I had not enough confidence in his good faith - Sharif Basha said "It is better so" and so it was done. My Bride-Price he gave me in gold coins in a heavy bag which I begged him to keep for me but he is determined it shall be sent to my Bankers in London.
My head is in such a muddle of feelings and impressions. Shukri Bey and Husni Bey were very gallant and Layla and Zeinab Hanim were so happy that I was glad - alongside my own happiness - to be the instrument of their joy. Mabrouka kept repeating "Did I not see it in the cup?" and I had not the faintest idea what she meant when she asked it of me but I said yes.
And my husband? He slipped a broad gold band upon my finger and kissed my hand. "Two more days," he said, "and we shall be together. " And my heart thrilled as though it would leap out and lodge within his breast.
This is to be my last night in this room which has been my home for more than half a year. I have asked Emily to pack all my things, telling her that I am leaving in the morning and will send for her shortly. She is surprised, but I believe she fancies I am going to Alexandria and that after a short stay there we shall be leaving for England.
Tonight I must also write to Sir Charles.
24 May This is the last night that I shall sleep alone. A sweet note was delivered to me a half hour ago from my husband: "Sleep well, Lady Anna. Tomorrow you and I have serious business to attend to. " And indeed I shall sleep - or attempt to. But I must record the events of this extraordinary day.
I left the hotel and found my husband"s carriage waiting, as we had arranged, at the corner of rue al-Maghrabi and rue Imad el-Din. We drove to the Agency, him holding my hand the while. He had already sent a note to Lord Cromer "to save a certain amount of explanation", he said. Upon our arrival we were met by a young gentleman from my husband"s office who was to act as translator. I understood it was the first time Sharif Basha had entered the Agency, and the place, once so familiar to me, grew strange as I saw the consternation on the faces of the staff and how they avoided meeting my eye as we were ushered through and into the Lord"s office.
Lord Cromer stood to greet us and bowed to my husband but did not offer to shake his hand, and as we sat across the desk from him he came immediately to the point: "I understand you wish to get married?" He addressed himself to me and he spoke with such obvious distaste that I was stung and replied in French so that my husband could understand: "We are already married, Lord Cromer. We wish to register the marriage so that it may be recognised in Britain."
I saw his colour rise but he mastered his anger and asked when the ceremony had taken place. Our young translator rendered this into Arabic and my husband replied - and throughout the interview Lord Cromer spoke in English, I in French, and Sharif Basha in Arabic. No tea or coffee was offered, no pleasantries exchanged. My husband motioned to his a.s.sistant, who brought out a copy of the French marriage contract and placed it in front of Lord Cromer. He studied it briefly and turned to me: "Lady Anna," he said, "do you realise what you are doing?"
If he had been sad or puzzled, I should have warmed to him, but he showed only distaste and anger.
"Does Sir Charles Winterbourne know of this?" he asked.
"I have written to him," I said, "and to my other friends."
"This is nonsense," Lord Cromer said. "And Muhammad Abdu should have had more sense than to lend himself to it."
My husband uttered a few curt words.
"The Basha says," said our translator, "that our interest is to register the marriage, not to learn Lord Cromer"s opinion of it."
"Lady Anna," Cromer said, "I think it would be best if we conversed alone."
I placed my hand briefly on Sharif Basha"s arm and said I did not believe I had anything to say that my husband could not hear.
"My dear, you are making a mistake," the Lord said, and his voice was sorrowful now, and anxious. "My staff will tell you of the young women we find wandering about, having contracted such marriages. They will tell you of their condition -"
When the translator had stopped murmuring I replied that I had heard those stories already and had felt that there was a certain relish in the telling of them. I did not think they were pertinent to me.
"Lord Cromer -" my husband spoke slowly, the translator keeping pace with him as he went - "I think I understand something of what you feel. It would not have filled me with joy if my sister had wished to marry an Englishman. In fact I would probably have done everything I could to stop her. Whatever mistaken ideas you have, you seem to have a true regard for my wife and you believe that you are acting in her best interest. My a.s.surances - and hers - will mean nothing to you now. But -"
"Sharif Pasha." Lord Cromer finally turned to him, his voice gruff but his manner conciliatory. "Sharif Pasha, we have not met before, but I have heard of you -"
My husband bowed.
"Despite everything," Cromer continued, "I know you are a man of integrity and a man of the world, and I am sure you are aware - to put it bluntly - of all that Lady Anna stands to lose through entering into this ... contract. She is a woman of rank and position. As a man of honour surely -"
"Lord Cromer," I interrupted, for I felt a sudden fear that his words might find their mark - and now it was my husband"s turn to lay his hand briefly on my arm. When he finished speaking, the translator said: "The Basha says he is aware of the great honour the lady does him. If she loses position in your society because of this marriage, that will be your society"s fault - and its loss. The Basha is certain that the circles she will be moving in will give her all the consideration due both to her rank and to her position as his wife."
"What circles?" Lord Cromer now erupted. "I will not countenance this -"
"Milord," I said, "we are already married. If the marriage cannot be registered, we shall have to do without."
At this Lord Cromer left the room. I fancy he must have consulted one of his gentlemen, for he was absent for a few moments. Upon his return he took up his position once more behind his desk. But he did not sit down. He stood and, glaring down at Sharif Basha, he said: "I want you to sign an undertaking that you will not take another wife while you remain married to Lady Anna."
His tone would have not been inappropriate used to a tradesman whom he suspected of shabby dealing. I felt myself go hot with anger. I was angry on behalf of my husband, but I was also angry on behalf of England - that Sharif Basha would think we all did not know how to behave.
"Lord Cromer, this is insulting - I began.
"Lady Anna, I must insist. It is clear that you have no idea -"
"It is already in the contract," my husband said quietly, rising. "And other clauses too that you should look at. I would be grateful if you could order the finished doc.u.ments sent round to my office. I believe we have taken enough of your time." He turned to me: "Madame?"
We left. I am sure Lord Cromer read the Contract. But I am also sure that the reading of it will not for an instant have shaken his belief that he has the measure of my husband - for he is not a man given to self-doubt. In the carriage I started to apologise, but my husband put his finger on my lip. "Hush," he said. "We are the ones who are happy."
I had a similarly dreadful interview with Emily, whom I sent for as soon as I was installed in the house. She was cross with me, I know, although she did not betray it except by a slight tightening of the lips and a "So madam won"t be needing my services any more, then?" I said indeed I wanted her, in the first place to make sure these two letters - putting them into her hand - would be delivered to Mrs Butcher and James Barrington immediately, and for the rest I would need her as long as she cared to stay, but our circ.u.mstances would be so changed that I was not sure whether she would be happy. I have given her three days at Shepheard"s to think about it and then I shall send for her again.
And it is just as well that she has not been here today, for today was my "Henna Day" and even though I have not actually had henna applied to my hands and feet, as Layla tells me it is demode at the moment, I have had such a scrubbing and a plucking and a pummelling and polishing that I feel as though my bare limbs alone would light up a room. There have been maids rushing around all day - apart from the women who have been attending to me, and Zeinab Hanim busy with more women in the kitchen as they prepare for tomorrow"s feast, and Ahmad in the middle of it all, and other children I do not know who were all stealing bits of fruit and raisins, climbing over sacks of provisions left in the courtyard, blowing jets of water at anyone who pa.s.sed near the fountains, for they knew that today they might do as they pleased and go unpunished. And all the while the singing and the zaghrudas and from time to time Layla would bring something to show me - a gold ornament, a set of crystal goblets or a silver tea service - and say "a gift from so-and-so" and whisk it off again; and the flowers: baskets and baskets of flowers arriving all day.
Layla told me with some anxiety that I would find our apartments rather bare, as her brother thought I should enjoy furnishing them myself, and I a.s.sured her he was right. I had not thought of it before but now I look forward with great pleasure to the choosing and fashioning of the furnishings - and I can draw on my beloved Frederick Lewis for inspiration.
For tonight I am in a small guestroom, close to Zeinab Hanim"s apartments. She has already looked in on me several times to ensure I was not lonely or unhappy in my strange surroundings.
I am happy. With a big, soaring happiness that needs to burst into a great song and fill the whole world around me. And indeed I am not lonely - but that I would have wished to share my present joy with one of my old friends, Caroline perhaps ...
Sharif Basha sleeps in his own house tonight.
And all his doubts and questionings have disappeared. She is no longer "Lady Anna, the Englishwoman". She is Lady Anna, his wife. "Anna Hanim, Haram Sharif Basha al-Baroudi." He smiles to himself as he soaks in the bath, as wrapped in a loose white towelling robe he walks around the house he will leave tomorrow, after so many years. It is strange to feel so happy, so calmly happy. Even in that wretched meeting with Cromer he had not found it in his heart to hate the man. Ah, but how Cromer had hated him! And hated having to sit there with the marriage contract in front of him. Sharif Basha grins. And she had been magnificent - not one word of English, not one concession. At every turn she had delighted him. Her wish that had made it possible for him to no longer worry over his mother"s loneliness. Her surprise at the extra clauses he had put in the contract. Her hand on his arm in front of Cromer. In his bedroom he opens once again the black velvet case on the dressing table. Tomorrow night, when he sees her, these sapphires will be shining in her ears and at her throat, and it will be his hands which - later - will unclasp them.
21.
In the act of love there is decreed for every part a portion of pleasure: so the eyes are for the pleasures of looking, and the nostrils are to smell sweet perfume. The pleasure of the lips lies in kissing, and of the tongue in sipping and sucking and licking. The teeth find their pleasure in biting, and the p.e.n.i.s in penetration. The hands love to feel and explore. The lower half of the body is for touching and caressing and the upper half is for holding and embracing - and as for the ears, their pleasure is in listening to the words and sounds of love.