"Do you 'insist’?"
"I do."
"Then by law you must return the entire marriage settlement."
"You took it from me and squandered it long ago on affion and pretty boys. What is left to return?"
"Then it is done."
Hawksworth watched in disbelief as Mukarrab Khan repeated three times the Arabic phrase from the Quran that cast her out. The two Jesuits also stood silently, their faces horrified.
Shirin listened impassively as his voice echoed across the stunned courtyard. Then without a word she ripped the strands of pearls from her neck and threw them at his feet. Before Mukarrab Khan could speak again, she had turned and disappeared through the doorway of the palace.
"In the eyes of God, Excellency, you will always be man and wife," Father Sarmento broke the silence. "What He has joined, man cannot rend."
A look of great weariness seemed to flood Mukarrab Khan's face as he groped to find the facade of calm that protected him. Then, with an almost visible act of will, it came again.
"Perhaps you understand now, Father, why the Prophet's laws grant us more than one wife. Allah allows for certain . . . mistakes." He forced a smile, then whirled on a wide-eyed eunuch. "Will the packing be finished by morning?"