“I think he will. Um Salih says they both want children more than anything. She also thinks that whatever the problem is, it can be fixed. ‘A cracked pitcher, not a broken one,’ as she puts it. Of course, that’s pure intuition, not a shred of medical science in it. But she has a way of being right in these matters.”

“As I said, I’ll talk with Mahir. If he does agree, it shouldn’t take me more than a few days to arrange the papers. We employ hundreds of foreign workers, and Onassis makes sure that the bureaucrats are well oiled.” Amira said quietly, “So little Laila will grow up in France, lnshallah.” “Inshallah.”

“I wonder, Brother—it’s something I’ve meant to ask: Do you plan to raise her in the faith?”

It was a question Malik had thought about often, but had never tried to put into words. “If all goes well, Salima Najjar will be doing most of the raising for a while, so there’s that to consider. But later … it’s hard to explain. I still believe in God. How else can this be explained?”—he swept a hand toward the diamond heavens—“And I still believe that Mohammed is his prophet. But I can’t believe in—can’t accept—some of the things that are done in God’s name or Mohammed’s.”

Amira nodded. “Those are my feelings, as well.” They had lowered their voices even though there was no one to hear. The words they were speaking were forbidden.

“Of course,” said Malik, “when she’s of an age, I’ll force her to take the veil, make sure she never sees the inside of a book, and—”

“You can’t be serious!”

“No, but I wanted to see the look on your face.” “Idiot.”

“What I really think,” Malik said contemplatively, “is that when Laila is your age, it will be very hard to tell her from any other little Francaise.”

“I like that picture. I don’t know how it will sit with Father, though.” She came close and hugged him tight. “I’ve missed you, Brother.’’

“And I you.”

They talked in the garden long into the night; there was no certainty when, if ever, they would have an hour alone together again.

O

With Farid as the go-between, Malik arranged a meeting with Mahir Najjar. His home was no place to talk business, Mahir insisted; he was beset there by relatives and in-laws, he claimed.