"Why should you?" he asked, a slight smile hovering about his lips. "You saved my life. Now we're 'quits.' Isn't that what you called it?"
Pansy did not argue the point. Nevertheless, she determined to repay him once she and her father were back in civilisation.
"How long will it take to get my father free?" she asked.
"It all depends on the sort of mood I catch the Sultan in. With the best of luck, it'll be some weeks."
"Has he got my note yet, do you think?" she asked anxiously. "He'll go grey with worrying over me. I can't bear to think of the look on his face when he saw me in that ... that awful slave market."
Le Breton had destroyed her message the moment he had reached his own rooms. Now he could not meet the beautiful eyes that looked at him with such perfect trust.
"I expect the message will get through before the day is out," he answered. "It's merely a matter of 'baksheesh.'"
At his words the world became quite a nice place again for Pansy, the only shadow in it now the dark blood in her lover.