“Confidential.”

“And it has nothing to do with Ceyden?”

“If it did, why would I still be here after her death?”

“I’m sure I don’t know,” I said. “Perhaps you could enlighten me.”

“I do not approve of what you are doing, Lady Emily. There is nothing to be gained. Ceyden is dead and cannot be helped.”

“Should she have no justice?”

“Sometimes justice brings only a worse pain.”

“So we should seek solace in lies and half-truths instead?” I asked.

“I cannot have you drawing attention to my mistress.”

“Does she have something to hide?”

“I suggested no such thing. I know only the risks of one’s actions being misinterpreted. Leave Bezime out of your game.”

“This isn’t a game, Jemal,” I said. “How could solving Ceyden’s murder threaten her?”

“Digging into any court controversy can threaten her. It’s not so long ago that the concubines of former sultans were drowned in the Bosphorus instead of being allowed a comfortable retirement.”

“Abdül Hamit would never do such a thing to a woman he looked on once almost as a mother.”

“But he stopped feeling that way for her, did he not? And why was that?”

“I couldn’t begin to tell you.”

He stood and began to pace in front of the doorway, the movement having a dizzying eff ect on me. “She is cut from all decisions, all events of importance. Is that not a precarious position?”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “A lonely one, but not dangerous.”

“She was closer to Ceyden than anyone else, raised her like a daughter. Groomed her to please the sultan.”

“Only to have her efforts thwarted by Perestu.”

“Precisely.”

“But isn’t that typical court behavior? Are not all the concubines competing for favor? It’s hardly surprising that the valide sultan would refuse to aid the cause of the one woman who might have had the position she occupies. Perestu must know full well that the sultan could have named Bezime valide.”