“Madam?” Meg opened our bedroom door a few inches after knocking. “An urgent message has come for you from the palace.”

I pulled myself away from the perfect comfort of Colin’s arms and sat up. The room was dark—tightly fit shutters keeping out the sun—and our silk quilted duvet and cotton blankets a perfect pool of soft warmth. The furniture, neither particularly Western nor Eastern, had simple, pleasing lines, and there were niches, lined with flower-painted tiles, cut out from the wall for candles on either side of the low mahogany bed. “The queen? Come in, Meg.”

“No, madam. Not Buckingham Palace. Top—Top—Oh, I don’t know that I could ever figure out how to say it.” She shrugged and handed me an envelope heavy with the scent of lavender.

“Topkapı Sarayı .” I leaned back as Colin raised a mountain of bright silk-covered pillows against the headboard. “A place undoubtedly full of exotic treasures, Meg. I’d love to see it, and you would, too.”

“Oh, madam, I’m not sure I’d want to go there. There’s a harem, you know. I might never come out.”

“I shan’t let the sultan claim you, Meg,” Colin said. “Without you here, Emily might force me to do her hair.”

“Thank you, sir.” Meg blushed, not looking at him, still embarrassed at finding him in my room. “Is there anything else you need?”

“No. We’ll be down for breakfast in another hour or so,” Colin said. She dipped a curtsy and left the room, closing the door firmly behind her.

“That long?” I kissed him. “What if I’m hungry before then?”