have seen yourself! I’ve always heard the English are at their best in an emergency, but I’ve never seen them in action before! I’d willingly drink tea for a week just to have seen the look on your face!’
‘You may have to!’ Deborah warned, beginning to smile. ‘If we’re going to survive, lessons in Farsi are a must. We ought to be able to find a teacher nearby—’
‘Ask Roger!’
Deborah shook her head. ‘I’d rather not. Wouldn’t Howard know?’
Maxine shook her head. ‘I saw an advertisement somewhere. It’s in a shop in that square where the renovated tea-shop is, just round the corner. I’ll show it to you when you’ve seen your room.’
Deborah thanked her warmly. ‘It’ll be fun!’ she claimed. ‘It’s always more fun if you can talk to people.’
‘Just so long as you don’t expect miracles from me,’ Maxine agreed, ‘it might be fun at that. Come on, and I’ll show you the rest of the house.’
To Deborah’s surprise, her hostess led the way to the largest of the four bedrooms that took up the whole of one side of the house. She and Howard had quarrelled over who should have it, Maxine said, retailing the story with relish. They had decided in the end to leave it vacant, but now Deborah should have it because it would be a pity if no one was to enjoy its splendour, seeing that it was there waiting to be used.
It was indeed splendid. The walls were hung with medallion carpets from Kashan, the sixteen original panels radiating out from a circular sixteen-pointed medallion in the centre. Beneath were more carpets of a similar design on the floor. A huge double bed took up much of the floor space, hung about with silk drapings, brown with age. In contrast, between the windows that looked out across the central patio that had once been filled with sweet-scented flowers, were three badly framed photographs of the Shahanshah, the Empress Farah, and the lively features of the Crown Prince.
‘Do you like it?’ Maxine asked her. ‘It hasn’t any of the modern conveniences that one looks for nowadays, but it doesn’t seem to matter somehow. Who cares if there’s nowhere to put your clothes?’
Deborah stood in silence for a long moment, drinking in the beauty of the priceless carpets about her. ‘No,’ she said, ‘it doesn’t matter at all.’
CHAPTER FOUR
The chai khane in the square was justly famous. They were greeted at the door by a man in traditional Turkoman costume, a dagger at his belt and a rather Chinese-looking hat on his head. He gestured them towards one of the pretty inlaid tables that surrounded a fountain in the centre of the darkened room. Mirrors had been placed round the walls, interspaced with complicated geometric designs that intrigued the eye. ‘Tea? Coffee? Sherbet?’ the man asked them. ‘Sherbet,’ Maxine said with decision. ‘We’ve only just had tea.’
‘Yes, madame. Of course, madame .’
‘I guess I’m getting to be pretty well known here,’ Maxine said. ‘I come here all the time because they don’t mind my coming in here by myself. I can’t say the same for everywhere in Iran. Women do most of their entertaining in their own homes and leave the public places to the men. That’s another reason why I’m glad you’ve come. Respectable women do their hunting in pairs and we’re less likely to be misunderstood if we stick together.’
‘We’ll do better still when we can speak the language,’ Deborah put in, determined that the object of their visit to the square should not be forgotten.
Maxine’s face lit with laughter. ‘I wonder if we shall be hunting for the same thing,’ she said with a naughty laugh. ‘I’d like to give Roger a jealous pang or two. He’s had things far too much his own way so far.’
‘I should have thought you’d find Roger a bit well—stuffy?’ Deborah suggested.
‘Roger? Did he strike you that way? Howard says he’s quite a lad when he gets going. Loves them and leaves them
‘You may have to!’ Deborah warned, beginning to smile. ‘If we’re going to survive, lessons in Farsi are a must. We ought to be able to find a teacher nearby—’
‘Ask Roger!’
Deborah shook her head. ‘I’d rather not. Wouldn’t Howard know?’
Maxine shook her head. ‘I saw an advertisement somewhere. It’s in a shop in that square where the renovated tea-shop is, just round the corner. I’ll show it to you when you’ve seen your room.’
Deborah thanked her warmly. ‘It’ll be fun!’ she claimed. ‘It’s always more fun if you can talk to people.’
‘Just so long as you don’t expect miracles from me,’ Maxine agreed, ‘it might be fun at that. Come on, and I’ll show you the rest of the house.’
To Deborah’s surprise, her hostess led the way to the largest of the four bedrooms that took up the whole of one side of the house. She and Howard had quarrelled over who should have it, Maxine said, retailing the story with relish. They had decided in the end to leave it vacant, but now Deborah should have it because it would be a pity if no one was to enjoy its splendour, seeing that it was there waiting to be used.
It was indeed splendid. The walls were hung with medallion carpets from Kashan, the sixteen original panels radiating out from a circular sixteen-pointed medallion in the centre. Beneath were more carpets of a similar design on the floor. A huge double bed took up much of the floor space, hung about with silk drapings, brown with age. In contrast, between the windows that looked out across the central patio that had once been filled with sweet-scented flowers, were three badly framed photographs of the Shahanshah, the Empress Farah, and the lively features of the Crown Prince.
‘Do you like it?’ Maxine asked her. ‘It hasn’t any of the modern conveniences that one looks for nowadays, but it doesn’t seem to matter somehow. Who cares if there’s nowhere to put your clothes?’
Deborah stood in silence for a long moment, drinking in the beauty of the priceless carpets about her. ‘No,’ she said, ‘it doesn’t matter at all.’
CHAPTER FOUR
The chai khane in the square was justly famous. They were greeted at the door by a man in traditional Turkoman costume, a dagger at his belt and a rather Chinese-looking hat on his head. He gestured them towards one of the pretty inlaid tables that surrounded a fountain in the centre of the darkened room. Mirrors had been placed round the walls, interspaced with complicated geometric designs that intrigued the eye. ‘Tea? Coffee? Sherbet?’ the man asked them. ‘Sherbet,’ Maxine said with decision. ‘We’ve only just had tea.’
‘Yes, madame. Of course, madame .’
‘I guess I’m getting to be pretty well known here,’ Maxine said. ‘I come here all the time because they don’t mind my coming in here by myself. I can’t say the same for everywhere in Iran. Women do most of their entertaining in their own homes and leave the public places to the men. That’s another reason why I’m glad you’ve come. Respectable women do their hunting in pairs and we’re less likely to be misunderstood if we stick together.’
‘We’ll do better still when we can speak the language,’ Deborah put in, determined that the object of their visit to the square should not be forgotten.
Maxine’s face lit with laughter. ‘I wonder if we shall be hunting for the same thing,’ she said with a naughty laugh. ‘I’d like to give Roger a jealous pang or two. He’s had things far too much his own way so far.’
‘I should have thought you’d find Roger a bit well—stuffy?’ Deborah suggested.
‘Roger? Did he strike you that way? Howard says he’s quite a lad when he gets going. Loves them and leaves them
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