Lord Of The Desert by Diana Palmer

Author:Diana Palmer
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-07-04T04:00:00+00:00

ChapterTen

Three days later, the big white Land Rover was sitting at the side steps to the palace, being loaded by servants with supplies. Behind it were several camels bearing carpets and household goods. Gretchen was almost jumping with excitement, because among those goods was her wedding costume, handmade by the palace seamstresses. She was going into the desert to marry the man she'd never expected to meet, much less to love. Even if the ceremony had no relevance anywhere else in the world, in Qawi she would be Philippe's wife. At least, until he decided to send her away. She wanted so desperately to belong to him, in such a way that he wouldn't be able to let her go, ever. Philippe, like herself, was wearing khakis. She'd expected him to don traditional robes for the journey, but his eyes had twinkled and he'd informed her that he was much too Westernized to like traditional clothing. One of his bodyguards had almost tripped over his own feet while listening to this remark, but Gretchen's eyes had been on the camels, so she hadn't noticed.

There had also been a heated argument between Philippe and his father. Gretchen had assumed that it was about the marriage. But while the supplies were being loaded, Leila came to tell her that the old sheikh, Philippe's father, wanted to see her. She was faintly apprehensive about it, because she knew he didn't like her. She'd been careful to stay out of his way, although she couldn't resist an occasional trip to see his beautiful orchids—when nobody was looking, of course. She wondered if he knew that she'd been invading his conservatory and was angry.

Leila led her to the huge greenhouse that adjoined the palace. The old sheikh turned at her en trance, his eyes disapproving of her figure-enhancing long tan safari skirt and matching blouse and hat that she wore with knee-high boots. The traveling outfit had been part of the new wardrobe Philippe had ordered forher, andthe single ensemble that pleased her most. "Noaba," he said curtly, indicating her lack of the traditional overgarment. She sighed and smiled. "No. I'm sorry, I forgot. I grew up on a ranch in Texas, you see, so I

usually wear jeans and T-shirts. Even this is dressy, for me... He said something she was glad she couldn't translate. "You mock me," he accused. "No," she said gently. "Not at all. You don't know me. I'm not sarcastic and I don't try to hurt other people. I was telling you the truth. I'm an absolute dunce when it comes to dress and social behavior. You mustn't worry," she added solemnly. "Philippe is only marrying me in a tribal ceremony. It won't even be binding, except in your country. He won't be stuck with me." "Stuck?" She shook her head. Nobody in this country understood English idioms. She was going to have to relearn how to speak her own language properly. "He won't have to stay married to me," she corrected.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.