happy about it, then well and good.”
“And if he refuses?”
“We can still get it done. My sister, as you know, is a widow, and so we need papal consent for her marriage. That is not true, however, for a virgin maid. So I could offer you my niece as a bride. She is very young still, but of high birth, the child of my brother and the Duchess of Brittany.”
“I will pass your message on to my brother,” al-’Ādil promised, and Humphrey sighed with relief, hoping this would be the end of the marriage talk, for he’d been hard put to remain impassive as Richard lied about the supposed outrage of their clerics, none of whom knew anything about the marriage proposal, and then proceeded to rewrite Church canon law to suit his own purposes. Despite his fluency in Arabic, Humphrey had not often been called upon as a translator in such highlevel conferences, and he feared he might inadvertently give something away by his reaction to what was said. It was fortunate, he thought, that al-’Ādil and Richard were having too much fun with their verbal swordplay to pay him any mind.
Al-’Ādil finished his drink. “I hope we can come to terms, Malik Ric. For if we do not, the sultan may have to listen to other offers.”
Richard wished he knew precisely what that Judas in Tyre was offering. “Tell me this, my lord. Would you ever disavow your God?”
Al-’Ādil was no longer smiling. “No, I would not.”
“Nor would I. But a man who’d turn upon those of his own faith is doing just that. So why would you or your brother trust such a man?”
“An interesting question,” al-’Ādil said noncommittally. “I will pass that on to the sultan, too.”
“If we could meet as I’ve requested, I could ask him that myself,” Richard suggested.
“Ah, but as my lord brother has told you, kings ought not to meet with other kings until peace has been made between them.”
“Yet you and I are meeting.”
“I am not a king,” al-’Ādil pointed out amicably.
“You could be, if you accept my peace terms.”
The other man merely laughed, and clapped his hands, for Richard had earlier expressed an interest in hearing Saracen music. Much to the surprise of the Franks, their entertainment proved to be a young woman, carrying a harp. Richard had been told the Saracens were very protective of their women, shielding them from the eyes of other men, and he was curious about her appearance, unveiled, in their midst. He leaned over to ask Humphrey if there was a tactful way to find out, but the poulain had no need to put such a question to al-’Ādil, for he already knew the answer. “She is a slave, my liege,” he explained, so nonchalantly that Richard and his companions exchanged glances, reminded again that the Christians of Outremer were closer in some ways to the Saracens than to their European brethren.
Richard was delighted with the girl’s songs, and the visit ended on a high note, with an exchange of compliments and a promise to meet again. On the ride back to their camp, Henri speculated aloud about the lovely slave’s fate, suggesting that one of them ought to buy her and grinning when Richard asked if he’d have been so sympathetic had she not been so fair. He retaliated by teasing his uncle about his offer of a substitute bride, wondering aloud whom Constance of Brittany would find more objectionable as a husband for her young daughter—a Saracen or an Englishman.
“We are talking of a crown, Henri. What woman would not want to be Queen of Jerusalem?”
“Aunt Joanna,” Henri retorted, and they both laughed.
Humphrey was close enough to hear their conversation, but he found no humor in it. He’d been stunned when Richard had first confided in him, and then euphoric, for this was the first glimmer of hope he’d been given in two years. If Joanna were to wed al-’Ādil and become queen, then Isabella’s claim would be superseded. Since Conrad had twice discarded wives when they no longer were of use to him, surely it was possible that he might repudiate Isabella, too, if she could not secure him the crown. For a fortnight, Humphrey had allowed himself to believe in miracles—the restoration of his wife and his stolen life. But he’d slowly come to doubt the sincerity of Richard’s offer, and he’d found the sudden mention of the king’s niece to be troubling. It was true that Saracen girls could