“That is understandable,” Lord Castleford said. “At the same time it could be dangerous!”

“I am aware of that,” Lord Stratford said sharply. “There are people of all nationalities living in Constantinople. If some of them are Russians, they have in fact been here for years and would be incapable of spying or of being of any harm to the community. But a mob will never listen to reason.”

“That is true,” Lord Castleford said, thinking of the man he had seen being beaten and spat upon and wondering if he had done anything that was wrong except by accident of birth.

“There were two or three upsets last week,” Lord Stratford said, “and I believe the authorities are talking of having a systematic official search from house to house. It is better that an investigation should be official than that the people should take the law into their own hands.”

“I am sure you are right there,” Lord Castleford nodded.

He wondered as he spoke if Yamina would be haunted by what she had seen and knew it would be difficult for him to forget the bloodstained face, the eyes closed in pain and the man’s body being virtually torn to pieces by the crowd as they dragged him with them.

It was a sight that no woman should have seen and he wished that he had impressed upon her even more strongly the fact that it would be best for her not to go into the Bazaar again but stay quietly at home until the trouble was over.

He could understand her anxiety to obtain the right medicine for her father. It was not an easy task. Conventional drugs were difficult to buy and were extremely expensive.

She had been purchasing the herbs that the country folk had great faith in. This was not peculiar to Turkey but was true of all Asiatic and Eastern countries.

At the same time were they effective? He was doubtful about that and he shrugged his shoulders metaphorically as he thought about them.

*

As it happened, Yamina was at that very moment cooking the herbs that she had found waiting for her at home.

Her servant, having returned far quicker than she had been able to do, had brought them with him.

“Now what exactly did the herbalist say, Hamid?” she enquired.

She spoke Turkish quite well, but not well enough to be able to differentiate the dialects, which were sometimes a mixture of Greek as well as other languages. They were often quite unintelligible to those who had not actually been born Turkish.

Hamid explained and she began working on cleaning the roots meticulously before she cut them into small pieces.

“The gentleman brought you home safely, Mistress?” Hamid asked.

“As you see, quite safely!” Yamina smiled.

“A fine-looking man!” Hamid remarked. “Like The Great Elchi himself!”

“I have never seen the Elchi,” Yamina replied.

“Great man, much power! Even Sultan do as he say!”