A black eunuch jumped down to settle the horses while another opened the door. The windows were covered in black taffeta so she could not make out their visitor. She was only mildly curious. Ludovici often entertained visitors during the day, usually other merchants from the Comunità Magnifica. A figure emerged from the coach, head and face invisible beneath the hood of a cloak and her black cazeta. Not a finger or toe was visible so she realized it must be a woman. A few moments later Hyacinth tapped on her door to announce a guest. She gaped as the woman entered, removing the hood of her ferijde. 'Sirhane!'   ***   She had changed hardly at all. She was perhaps a little thinner; otherwise it was as if the last six years had not happened. They were back in the seraglio again, the Sultan's odalisques, best friends and at the end, for a short time, Julia remembered with a blush - lovers. The Syrian looked glorious, as she always did. She wore an entari of green Bursa brocade, open in front and joined at the waist by three pearl buttons.
