"What do you mean?"
"The Englishman, Hawksworth. He claims to be here for his king and his king only. But I sense this is only partly true. He is a man of complex desires."
"Then why is he here?"
"I think he is here also for himself. He wants something."
"Perhaps it's to make war on the Portuguese?"
"He will not shrink from it. But I think his own coming to India is to find something. He is searching, for what I cannot say. He is a man of curious parts. He spoke once of spending time in prison. And he is devoted to playing a small stringed instrument. He understands the tongue of the Moghuls, and he questions all he sees. He is beginning to know India, because he has made it his purpose to know India. If he stays, he could become very troubling for the Portuguese."
"And will that bring no good to affairs here?" Nadir Sharif paused. "Will it?"
"I do not follow matters of state, Sharif Sahib."
Nadir Sharif let the silence swell, then in a voice brittle as ice he spoke.
"Why did the prince meet with him?"