HER VISIT TO THE mikvah was one of the few times during the month when Hannah enjoyed a respite from the daily routine of looking after Matteo, cooking—Zephra could not always be trusted to obey the strict laws of Kashrut—and helping Isaac in the workshop. Hannah, face covered in deference to Mohammedan custom, walked along the street toward the ritual baths behind the synagogue to meet with Ezster. She thought of the worrying events of the day before. She could confide in Ezster, who had always been a faithful and true friend.
Hannah stepped over a pile of camel dung and dodged a vendor selling felt slippers and confectioners selling sugary lokum. Hannah hoped to hear Fikret the donkey’s little hooves striking the paving stones and see Tova, Ezster’s daughter, so big with child that she would waddle as she led the animal along the street. They were nowhere to be seen. She entered the mikvah.
The air grew clammy as she descended the narrow staircase to the underground baths. This was a meeting place where the mothers of young men eyed young girls with a view to finding brides. Women with marriageable daughters loudly praised their girls’ beauty and cooking skills and hinted at substantial dowries. The baths were carved from stone and fed by pure spring water. Four pillars supported a canopy of bedrock. There were three pools in the main chamber and a smaller, private bathing pool reserved for the wealthiest women.
Hannah hesitated before entering the main chamber, which was square with a vaulted ceiling. The attendant handed her a towel and a comb. The air was a mixture of soap, the musky smell of old stone and water, and the scent of candles. From farther within the mikvah, the echoing voices of women drifted toward her. Pray that one of the voices was Ezster.
Hannah stopped in a small antechamber to prepare herself to enter the main pool. She removed the pins from her dark hair, which cascaded around her face. She ran a comb through it, careful to untangle all knots and snarls. She cleaned her fingernails and toenails with a small, pointed stick. Each month as she performed these ablutions, she grew warm and languorous in spite of the cold of the baths, thinking of what would happen that night in bed. How different it must be for Christian husbands and wives who were free to couple at any time, even—she could hardly bear to think of it—during a woman’s unclean time. She was not purifying herself for God, but for Isaac, who she hoped would eagerly be waiting for her return as he used to, even though their relationship since Grazia’s arrival had been strained, even in the bedchamber.
The attendant handed Hannah soap and a washbasin. Hannah lathered herself while the attendant poured water over her. Gooseflesh rose on her arms and legs. She looked down at her flat stomach and small breasts—the body of a woman who had never borne a child and perhaps never would. A wave of jealousy passed over Hannah as she thought of Grazia. Hannah had at first been envious of her sister-in-law’s beauty, hurt by the way Isaac stared at her. Now Grazia was about to become his lawful wife unless he raised her money in time. Was Isaac’s lack of ardour in the bedchamber related to his feelings for Grazia? Had they coupled without her knowledge? No, it could not be. She was being foolish. Isaac had always been the most loyal of husbands. He had never given her any reason to doubt him.
Hannah’s bare feet slapped the stone floor as she padded toward the bathing pool to join the other women. This was where the purest water entered the mikvah—rainwater captured through a special series of pipes. As she drew closer, she could hear the hearty guffaw of someone she recognized. It had been so long since she herself had laughed with such ease. There were Ezster and Tova, shivering on the edge of the pool, about to lower themselves in.
Because Tova was so self-conscious about her face, she wore her yaşmak even in the presence of other women. Poor girl. Before she contracted smallpox, Tova had been so beautiful that when she danced at her wedding, there was not a soul in the room, male or female, young or old, who did not fall in love with her. Even the dog scratching his fleas in the corner, hind leg moving in time to the music, raised its head to watch Tova spin and kick and toss her heels as the musicians sawed away on their fiddles. But now, her face was pocked and scarred, though her almond-shaped eyes remained lovely.
“Hannah!” Tova cried as she approached.
Hannah greeted the mother and daughter, kissing each of them in turn.
Ezster said, “Nu, Hannah, you are well? Business is good?”
“Yes,” said Hannah, giving the white mound of Tova’s belly a pat.
Jewish law requires that the entire body be in contact with the water. Tova quickly removed her veil, immersed herself in the pool, got out, and replaced her veil, which clung wetly to her cheeks. Hannah allowed herself to sink to the bottom until every part of her was submerged. This is what it must feel like to be a baby floating in its mother’s womb, she thought. After a few moments, she surfaced and stepped out of the pool to sit on the edge, dangling her legs in the water.
“Will you be at the palace soon, Ezster, selling your needles and trinkets and telling your wonderful stories to the harem?” Hannah asked.
“Of course, I have more stories than a rooster has tail feathers. If I cannot remember them, I make them up.”
Tova poked her mother. “You provide those girls with more titillation than the Sultan. When you open your mouth to talk, even the birds in the garden are still.”
“You will accompany your mother to the harem?” Hannah asked.
“I will. Who can turn down a chance to gossip with the ladies?”
Tova would not be going to the harem for much longer. Her belly was high, well above the umbilicus—pointed, which often signified a boy. Another fortnight at the most before she sent for Hannah to steady her on the birthing stool. Hannah must put her plan into action without delay.
“You will give birth to a healthy boy, may God be listening,” said Hannah.
Tova and Ezster stared at her, shocked. What a foolish, reckless thing to say aloud!
Tova was the first to recover. She kissed her thumb and looked up. “Hannah did not say that, and if she did say it, she did not mean it, and if she did mean it, she was mistaken, and because she is mistaken, she is sorry. And because she is sorry, it is as though she had never spoken at all. And because she did not speak, there is nothing to discuss.”
Hannah began to apologize, but Ezster shushed her. “The Evil Eye has been placated. Anyway, we are Jews. We do not worry about such nonsense.” She often forgot that in Constantinople, fear of the Evil Eye was all-consuming.
There was a long silence, during which Hannah considered how to broach the subject that was on her mind. Good, the bath attendants had left the room. She turned to Ezster and Tova.
“There is something weighing on me that I must talk to the two of you about.” Ezster, for once, did not interrupt but sat quietly waiting for Hannah to continue. “Leah, the girl in the harem who sent you a note for me? She is in a great deal of danger.”
“Because?” asked Ezster.
“She is with child.”
“But surely that is good news,” said Tova.
“Not when the baby will be born only five months after she coupled with God’s Shadow on Earth, and not when I am the midwife who vouched for her virginity.”
Tova gasped. Ezster looked as if Hannah had just slapped her in the face. “But Hannah, why would you have done such a thing?” asked Ezster.
“Because I did not know she was pregnant when I examined her.”
“But you knew she was not intact,” persisted Tova.
Hannah looked at the floor. “I did. I took pity on her, knowing if she was found out, she’d be sent to the whoremaster at the docks. Her entire family, her whole village was killed. She and her child are the last of a long line. And she is one of us. She is a Jew.”
“Do you understand what you have done?” Ezster asked. “Do you know the danger she is in? That you are in with her?”
“I must get her out of the harem,” said Hannah.
Tova was the first to get to the point. “Why should my mother and I risk our lives for a girl we don’t know?” Tova looked down at her belly. “I would like to help, but look at me. I have a child on the way and five more little ones at home needing me, plus a husband.”
“I lied for the girl,” said Hannah. “It is my fault. I know that. I have asked too much of you. I am sorry.”
Tova and her mother exchanged looks.
“Oh, Hannah.” Ezster was quiet for a moment and then said, “We will help, if there is a way.”
Tova reached out a hand and took Hannah’s in her own.
Hannah was speechless for a moment. When she regained her composure, she said, “I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.” Then, she began to explain her plan.
Ezster’s head was shaking before Hannah had finished. Ezster, who was as much a force of nature as the strong winds that blew across the Bosporus during the winter months, said Hannah’s plan had no chance of succeeding.
“What can go wrong?”
Ezster ran her fingers through her wet hair. “Everything. But if you do it my way, we have a small chance.” Ezster talked and Hannah listened. She concluded, “I will talk to this girl and tell her what she must do.”
In less time than it takes to recite the Shema, the twice daily Jewish prayer, the three women had concocted a plan that was risky, but also, Hannah had to admit, brilliant.