_
Hawksworth shifted and stared about the room. It was darker now but
several men had entered. Few of them seemed to understand Samad's
Turki.
"So what do I do now?"
"Stay with us for a while. Learn to know yourself." Samad rose and
stepped off the dais. "Perhaps then you will at last find what you
want."
He motioned for Hawksworth to walk with him to the balcony. Across the
courtyard a single lamp burned in the turret of one of the buildings.
"Tonight must be remembered as a dream, my English. And like a dream,
it is to be recalled on waking as mere light and shadow." He turned and
led Hawksworth to the door. The men stood aside for them. "And now I
bid you farewell. Others will attend you."
Hawksworth walked into the marble corridor. Standing in the half-light,
her face warm in the glow of a lamp, was . . .
Shirin.