The sophistication fell away, and he was a boy again, his eyes sparkling with love, his voice rich with tenderness. “She’s wonderful, Amira. She learns some- thing new every day. She hears a new word once, and immediately she knows what it means. Her French is quite amazing now. Her nanny says she has a great facility with language.”

Amira’s eyes went to her own son, lying in his elaborately decorated cradle just a few feet away.

“They grow faster than you can imagine, Amira,” Malik said softly. “And soon, you cannot imagine a life without them.”

Amira’s final visitor arrived on the day she was to return home. Dr. Philippe Rochon. “I’ve been attending the king this week,” he explained, “so I thought I’d look in on you and the baby.”

Did Ali know? she wondered, but dared not ask. She was surrounded by hospital staff, and Philippe sat in a chair a full three feet from her bed, yet there was an intimacy to his presence that she had not experienced before.

“The baby is healthy,” he went on, “as I’m sure you know. And you, Amira, you …”

“Yes?” she asked, holding her breath.

“You’re lovelier than ever. If that were possible.”

She exhaled slowly. He had crossed a line. A personal compliment. And her husband not present.

“Tell me about your studies,” he said, breaking the tension. “Ali tells me you’ve been very diligent throughout your confinement.”

“It isn’t diligence. Though I’m often frustrated because there’s no one to answer my questions, I love learning new things, or trying to.”

“Ah, Amira,” he said sadly, “someone like you, a natural student, you belong …”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

“I’m studying psychology, as you suggested. Just a beginning course, but still…”

Philippe’s blue eyes crinkled with pleasure. “And? What do you think?”

“It’s like learning a new language, a new way of thinking and seeing. I don’t pretend to understand it yet, but I will, I know I will.”

“I wish I could see it all with you, Amira, through your eyes.”

Amira was quiet. Too much had already been said. Philippe got up to go, waiting perhaps for a moment to see if she would stop him. She did not. But when he left, the room seemed so very empty. And cold.

O

For a long time after Karim’s birth, Amira was so involved with him she scarcely noticed that Ali still had not returned to their marriage bed. First, Karim was circumcised by the mutaharati, one of the handful of old men who specialized in the simple procedure. Then followed a week-long feast, almost as lavish as her wedding. Food was distributed to the poor; gold pieces were handed out to all who came to pay their respects.