The Harem Midwife by Roberta Rich Page A

was long—two days—but all seemed well, until the infant emerged with her shoulder out of place. With God’s help, I was able to manipulate it back into position and stop her anguish. Poor Safiye suffered as well.”
    “Two days of pain, and for what? A girl.” The Valide tossed a meatball into the open jaws of one of the dogs. “Childbearing is the greatest of all gambles, is it not?”
    “Very true,” said Hannah. Soon, the Valide would inquire about Leah. Hannah felt her stomach tighten.
    “Even in the glittering casinos of Venice’s Grand Canal, neither the turn of a card nor the roll of dice can compare to the dangerous game of chance we women are forced to play.”
    Hannah had never taken part in a game of chance in her life but she was playing a dangerous game now. What were the odds that a lie about Leah would be discovered? On the other hand, had not the Sultan rejected all odalisques and concubines his mother and sister had placed before him for the past several years? He might decline Leah as well. This was Leah’s only hope.
    “Hannah, Safiye clutches on to my son as tightly as a fishwife holds on to a snapper. My son could at any time, may Allah not be listening, sicken and die. He could be assassinated.” The Valide sighed. “The enemies of the Empire are everywhere. The Chief Taster died a very unpleasant death last year from a bowl of pistachio nuts and honey laced with quicksilver.” The Valide plucked a pastry filled with walnuts and honey and fresh cream from a tray at her elbow.
    “I understand.”
    “Safiye has tried for years to produce a second son. She has failed. Miscarriage after miscarriage, then another girl. On it goes—vexation after vexation, disappointment after disappointment. In spite of this, the Sultan remains devoted to her. It is very tiresome. The Sultan must put her aside and find a girl who will bear sons.”
    Unlucky Safiye. Was she nothing more than a burden to be discarded? How miserable Hannah’s life would be if Isaac had decided that Matteo was not sufficient, that he wanted a son from his own loins. There was nothing but his love for her to stop him from thrusting her aside. The law would place no obstacles in his path. And yet Hannah knew he loved her too much to abandon her.
    The Valide held out her hands so that Kübra could wash off the pastry crumbs. “Here we have the very crux of the problem.” The Valide opened her hands palms up as if in supplication. It was a disarming gesture for the most powerful woman in the Ottoman Empire and hence the world. “You are renowned for your skill in delivering babies, but have you ways of turning a man’s thoughts to procreation? The Sultan can perform perfectly well with Safiye, but with another woman, no matter how lovely, his royal member is as flaccid as …”—the Valide, to Hannah’s amusement, blushed—“last season’s carrot.”
    She leaned forward and let her hand rest on Hannah’s knee. Hannah had the presence of mind not to disclose her surprise.
    “My daughter, Esmahan, and I have searched far and wide to find Leah. I made sure my son had a glimpse of her through a hole in the floor of his sleeping chamber when the slavers delivered her. The girl has engendered in my son’s heart the kind of lust against which there is no shield.” Nurbanu’s mouth formed into an expression that was not quite a smile. “But while his heart may burn for his little slave girl, there is a great difference between Allah giving a man desire and providing him with the ability to satisfy it. One only has to watch the eunuchs gazing upon the girls in the hamam to divine that.”
    Hannah winced inwardly at the comparison. Not certain how to respond, she finally said, “I try to educate myself in all matters concerning childbirth and conception. I have knowledge of herbs.”
Herbs to enhance fertility
, shecould have added, none of which had had the slightest effect on her own body. She also knew of herbs that