Chapter 3 Summary and Analysis

Sultana, Kareem, and Maha travel to London. They arrive late, then admit Maha into a mental institution. Kareem and Sultana then retire to their London home. Their permanent servants are surprised to see them, seeing as the Gulf War had prevented them coming for a couple of years.

Sultana recalls the sad story of a distant cousin of hers, Princess Misha'il. Misha'il is married to an older man she does not like, and she takes a lover, the nephew of a diplomat. She tries to fake her death by pretending to drown in the ocean, thereafter dressing as a man and attempting to flee the country with her lover. Unfortunately, the king outsmarts her and she is caught at the airport. After much gossip as to her fate, it is learned that Misha'il and her lover will be executed for adultery...