"I've read many, many old stories from Earth-that-was," Eli said reflectively. And that was true; he was a voracious reader, devouring everything he could find. More than once he'd demanded books as part of a payment for a job. "A seraglio is a place where a sultan, who was like a king of old Earth, kept his lovely harem of pleasure ladies. It was filled with fine silks and soft pillows and fragrant incense, with pitchers of wine and trays of sweets and all manners of pleasurable things. It was meant to be a showcase for the beauty of the ladies living there. And if it's not too forward of me to say so, you, Miss Cardiff, would not be out of place there."
He caught her hand, pressed the gold coin into her palm, and gently curled her fingers closed around it. "And there's nothing wrong with a bit of dreaming."
Eli folded his hands neatly together and tipped his head back into the warm sun. "I know how to keep figures, yes," he replied. "If I were an unscrupulous sort, I could make them say whatever I wished." He rolled his head to open his eyes and look at her.