CHAPTER IX--ON THE NILE
Muriel was not slow to spy out the possibilities of her friend'ssteamer. Her father, she soon discovered, was glad enough that sheshould make herself agreeable to the Bindanes; for, as he explained toher at some length, Mr. Bindane was at that time engaged in raising anenormous sum of money for agricultural investment in the western oasesof Egypt, and it was of great importance that the luxuriousriver-steamer and the Residency should be on intimate terms.
For years Lord Blair and his predecessors had endeavoured in vain tointerest the financial world in the mineral products and rich soil ofthe chain of oases which spreads across the desert between Egypt andTripoli. But nobody, least of all the Government, would yet trust theirmoney in an outlying territory so recently explored and opened up. ThenBenifett Bindane had wandered into the Foreign Office, when Lord Blairwas on leave in England, and had remarked laconically that he wouldraise the necessary millions.
At first he had hardly been taken seriously, for he looked such a fool.Later it was thought that because he looked such a fool it might beworth while to help him to part with his money; and finally it wasdiscovered that he was not such a fool as he looked. The money heproposed to find was to be mostly other people's, those other peoplebeing likely to be persuaded by the fact that the money would appear tobe mostly his own. He had promised to send somebody out to Egypt toinvestigate, and now, quietly and without any apparent pretext otherthan that of his honeymoon, he had come himself.
Three or four days after the Bindanes' arrival a thirty hours' excursionup the river was planned, the party consisting of the bridal couple,Lady Muriel, Lady Smith-Evered, Rupert Helsingham, and Professor Hyley,the Egyptologist. The Pyramid of Meidum, some fifty miles upstream fromCairo, was the objective; and it was proposed to start at noon, to moorfor the night near the village of Meidum, to ride over to the ruins onthe following morning, and to make the return journey to Cairo duringthe afternoon and evening.
Muriel boarded the steamer when the time came with keen interest hiddenunder a casual exterior. For her it was to be a sort of trial run: shewas going to study the romantic possibilities of the Nile. If the tripprovided opportunities for Rupert Helsingham to make love to her, inwhich direction his recent actions had begun to point, she would try toarrange further excursions, perhaps with him, perhaps in other company.
The professor was a neat and natty little man, with prominent teeth andwistful eyes, a eunuch's voice and pretty manners; and an hour had notpassed before it was apparent that the General's lady had taken him toher bosom. He examined an antique scarab ring upon her finger, and toldher to what dynasty it was to be dated; he showed her a somewhat similarring upon his own finger, and said it was not so good nor so old aspecimen as hers; he remarked what a fine old English soldier theGeneral was, and he sighed to think how few were left of that breed; hepoked delicate and kindly fun at the younger hostesses of Cairo, andcompared their social efforts with those of the elder generation, soadmirably represented by the lady to whom he was speaking. LadySmith-Evered thought him a dear little man, a designation the first twowords of which were certainly applicable.
"They just love each other, don't they!" Rupert whispered to Muriel.
"Yes," she replied. "I think that disposes of my chaperone."
She made the remark with evident satisfaction, and Rupert glancedquickly at her. His heart was beating fast.
"You seem glad," he said.
Muriel shrugged her shoulders.
The afternoon was hot, and as the party lounged on deck the glare of thesunlight upon the mirror of the water was dazzling. Mr. Bindane put on apair of blue spectacles, and presently gave vent to a series ofhay-feverish sneezes.
"Good God!" exclaimed his wife. "Look at what I've married!" She seizedhis unresisting arm.
"Come, Benifett, let's go and lie down in the cabin."
"A good idea," said Lady Smith-Evered, thankfully following her hostessbelow. "I shall go to my cabin too."
"I think forty winks for me, also," the Professor presently remarked,feeling himself to be _de trop_.
"Are you going to have a siesta?" asked Rupert, looking at Muriel withfervour in his eyes.
"Not unless I fall off to sleep in this comfy chair," she answered. "Inthat case, you must promise to wake me if my mouth drops open. Pull upyour chair close to mine, and tell me the story of your life."
Rupert stood up, and, taking off his coat, rolled back hisshirt-sleeves, revealing a pair of well-made blue-veined arms. Theleather belt which held up his white flannel trousers was pulled intightly, and Muriel did not fail to admire the slimness of his waist ashe settled himself in the long deck-chair at her side.
They were screened from the sun by an Arabic awning of many colours, andtheir eyes looked out across the oily surface of the water to theluxuriant river bank which seemed to pass before them like an unfoldingpicture, now revealing the open fields, now a village basking in thesunlight, now groups of palms and cedars in the deep shadows of whichthe peasants rested with their flocks, and now a native villa withmysterious latticed shutters and silent walled gardens. Every hundredyards or so there was a _sakieh_, by which the water was raised from theriver into the irrigation channels; and as each came into sight thecreaking of the great wooden cogwheel, and the song of the half-nakedboy who drove his patient ox round and round, drifted to their ears,drowsily and with plaintive monotony.
Neither Muriel nor Rupert talked much, but their sleepy proximityengendered a quiet sympathy between them more potent than any words. Herhands lay idly in her lap; and presently, with a lazy movement, heextended his arm and let it fall across hers, so that his hand restedupon her hand. She turned slightly and smiled at him, but she did notmove. Their two heads, each upon its cushion, drooped closer together.Muriel's eyes closed, and, with a sense of gentle happiness pervadingher mind, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, a quarter of an hour later, she knew that Rupert hadjust kissed her: she still felt the touch of his lips. She did notresent it; it was not unexpected. But somehow she felt that she was nolonger carrying out an experiment. The handsome young man beside her,after these few weeks of probation, had managed, somehow, to step intothe sanctuary of her heart, and had seated himself audaciously upon thethrone which had stood vacant these many months.
She sat up in her chair and passed her hands across her eyes. Then sheturned, and, with a smile upon her lips, looked steadily at hercompanion.
"You kissed me," she said. She spoke in a tone almost of awe.
"Yes," he answered, and his voice failed him. He turned his eyes to thebank of the river and clenched his teeth. He felt very uncomfortable.
"Why?" she asked. Her face was very close to his, and his hand was abouther wrist.
"Because I love you, Muriel," he whispered; and the hoarseness of hisvoice would have seemed comical to her had she been in a normalcondition.
Suddenly he put his arm about her shoulder and pulled her down to him,so that her head lay upon his breast and her hair touched his face. Shedid not resist; the drowsy warmth of the afternoon, the Oriental beautyof their surroundings, and the still unevaporated magic of that greatenchanter, Sleep, held her powerless.
Again and again he kissed her--kissed her mouth and her eyes, herforehead and her cheeks, her throat and her hair; and with each touch ofhis lips the fires of her womanhood leaped up within her, so that inthese few moments the whole course of her life, so it seemed to her, waschanged, and new directions, new vistas, were revealed in intenseillumination.
At last, dazed and flushed, she released herself from his hold and stoodbefore him, her fingers clasping and unclasping themselves, her eyeswild and yet tender in their wildness.
"Rupert!" she gasped. "O Rupert!"
Suddenly she turned and ran to the companionway, and the next moment haddisappeared.
Rupert sprang from his chair, and banged his fist into the palm of hisother hand. "Gad!" he cried aloud, and there was exultation in hisvoice. He wal
ked the length of the deck, with his hands in his pockets;then he sat down, and immediately got up again. His knees seemed to betrembling under him. He wondered whether that was a symptom of love, anddecided that it was not. No he was not in love; he was just excited. Andno wonder! Muriel was one of the great heiresses of England, and one ofthe most charming girls on the market, so to speak; and he hadpractically got her! Well, perhaps he was in love: her kisses werewonderful; the feeling of closeness to her was exquisite! How delightedhis father would be! "Lady Muriel Helsingham," and, in time to come,"Lady Helsingham of Singleton!" And all that money!
He lit a cigarette, puffed frenziedly at it, and threw it into theriver. Then he, too, went below.
Muriel's cabin was opposite his own, and at the door he paused andlistened. He thought he heard her sigh, and his heart heat faster. Shewas madly in love with him! Why hadn't he acted sooner? Hisschool-friend had been perfectly right: a man has only got to take hiscourage in both hands and attack a woman forcibly, and she succumbs.
He went into his cabin and shut the door briskly. He sat down on theedge of the narrow bed, and stared critically at himself in the mirroropposite. He was quite good-looking. He wondered how Lord Blair wouldtake it. After all, it was not a bad match for his daughter: he was theson and heir of a Peer of the Realm, and his father had a very nicelittle estate.
In the cabin opposite, Muriel, likewise, sat upon the edge of her bed.She had been crying, and there were still tears in her eyes. Surely, shethought, this must be love that had come to her, though sudden andunexpected had been its advent. She was profoundly stirred, andwonderingly she recalled every moment of the experience through whichshe had just passed. It had been so sweet; his eyes had looked into hersso tenderly; his lips had aroused something so mighty within her. Ofcourse she would marry him if he asked her; but she was so selfish, sostupid, and he was so clever. Everybody loved him: perhaps he wouldquickly grow tired of her....
At tea-time she could not look at him. She talked at random to theothers, and as they all sat afterwards on deck watching the sun go down,she still kept aloof from him. Later, in dressing for dinner, sheexacted particular care from her maid; and she was thankful that she hadbrought her most becoming dress with her.
"My dear, you look a dream!" exclaimed Kate Bindane as she came into thedining-room. "A dam' sight too beautiful for my liking! I'll have tokeep my old man out of your way, or you'll make him feel all of atwitter. As it is, I see him eyeing you all the time. He's a dark horse,is Benifett: you never know what he's up to."
And certainly during dinner his watery eyes were fixed upon her fromtime to time with disconcerting directness. A glass or two of champagnehelped her to overcome a feeling of shyness in relation to Rupert, andsoon she became conscious of a growing excitement. She wondered whatwould happen before the evening was over, and alternately she longed forthe meal to come to an end, and was dismayed to find it advancing soquickly. She talked feverishly, and, indeed, Lady Smith-Evered once feltit her duty to make signs to the butler to refrain from filling thegirl's glass. Muriel, however, observed the signal, and laughed aloud.
"Am I talking too fast or something?" she asked, holding up her emptyglass to the hesitating butler.
"No, it's only that wine is not very good for one in this climate,"whispered Lady Smith-Evered, her expression hinting at strange things.
"It can't hurt her," said Mr. Bindane, yet he drank only water himself.
As they went up on deck for their coffee, Muriel felt her face burningand her heart thumping; and when Rupert stood at her side andsurreptitiously touched her hand she experienced so wondrous a thrill ofemotion that she forgot what she was saying at the moment to ProfessorHyley, and their conversation--something about ancient Egyptiangods--completely broke down.
Owing to some engine-trouble earlier in the day the steamer had notnearly reached its destination; and now, for the sake of the passengers'comfort, it was travelling quietly and at a much reduced pace. The nightwas warm, windless, and intensely dark, for the waning moon had not yetrisen; but the stars were brilliant, and the Milky Way stretched acrossthe heavens like a band of ghostly silver.
As soon as the coffee cups were removed Mr. Bindane proposed theinevitable game of bridge, and therewith their host and hostess, LadySmith-Evered, and the Professor descended to the saloon, Muriel andRupert remaining on deck--by the tacit and tactful arrangement of KateBindane, who seemed to anticipate their inclinations.
"There's a nice little cosy corner at the stern," she whispered toRupert, and gave him a friendly dig in the ribs. Fortunately Muriel wasout of earshot.
To the stern, therefore, he led his companion when at length they wereleft alone, and here on a comfortable sofa they seated themselves. Nordid he allow many moments to pass before he attempted to resume theintimacy of the afternoon. Muriel, however, was self-conscious, and ashe kissed her she gently thrust him away from her.
"Don't," she muttered. "Please don't, Rupert, dear."
There was a tone of anguish in her voice, for at the dawn of love awoman feels terror such as no man can understand. Instinctively, andwithout definite reasoning, she dreads the consequences of her actions;and whereas a man's new love is glorious with the exultation of carelessconquest, a woman's is tender with the vision of uncomprehended pain tobe. At the lightest touch of a new lover's lips she catches sight of herwhole destiny; and where a man rejoices, a woman quakes.
Rupert was abashed, and, releasing her from his grasp, stared before himinto the darkness, while Muriel waited for him to make her quake again:it was a wonderful sensation.
"Why shouldn't I kiss you, Muriel?" he asked. "You love me, you know youdo." He turned to her, and his face came close to hers. "You do love me,don't you?"
For answer she ran her fingers through his hair and looked long at him.In the dim light he could see that she was searching his face as thoughendeavouring to find in it the assurance her womanhood required. Hehoped that her hands were not untidying him beyond quick repair: he verymuch disliked having his hair ruffled.
Again he put his arms about her, and now she did not resist. Her eyesclosed, and as in a dream she gave herself up to the emotion of themoment. In some miraculous manner it seemed to her Rupert had developed,and his arms that now enfolded her were suddenly endowed with celestialstrength. It was as though by loving her he had identified himself witha force far greater than his own; and even the broken words which heuttered seemed to have a more profound meaning. She forgot that she hadread such words in many a short story, many a novel; they soundedbeautiful to her; they came to her ears with all the enchantment ofthings never before spoken in the whole history of the world.
"O Rupert," she murmured, "do I mean all that to you?"
"You mean heaven and hell to me, Muriel," he said, dramatically.
For a considerable time--though time to her stood still--they sattogether in the darkness, closely held in one another's arms, his cheekand his lips pressed against her bare shoulder and neck; and as themoments passed the intoxication of love began to bewilder him as it hadalready overwhelmed her. Her skin was so warm, so soft, so alluring, andthe surge of her breath was so entrancing!
Suddenly they became conscious of the sound of much shouting amongst thenative crew, and at the same time the drone of the paddle-wheels ceased.Rupert raised his head, and his hands began instinctively to tidy hishair and to arrange his disordered tie.
"We must have arrived," he said. "The others will be coming up on deck:we'd better move."
He stood up, and Muriel sank back into the corner of the sofa, her armacross her eyes. For some moments she seemed to be unable to bring hermind down from the heights of her dream; and Rupert watched her withanxiety, hoping that she would speedily master herself.
"Come," he said. "Let's walk along the deck."
Very slowly she rose to her feet, and, with a sigh, put her arm in his.
The steamer had evidently reached its destination, and the captain'sbell incessantly ra
ng his orders to the engine-room, while the hurriedtread of bare feet could be heard on the bridge above them as they cameinto the soft light amidships. On one side the bank of the river couldbe discerned in the darkness, still some thirty or forty feet distant;on the other the open water stretched, reflecting the innumerable stars.To this latter side Rupert led her, and, leaning his back against therailing above the now silent paddle-wheel, he held his hand out to heras she stood before him.
"Muriel," he whispered, when fervently he had kissed her fingers, "willyou be my wife?"
She drew in her breath sharply, and her hands clasped themselves againsther breast. She had been waiting for these words, but now when she heardthem they frightened her. Somehow in the light of the electric lamps herdream in the darkness had faded, and there was a sense of cooler realityin her mind, a kind of reaction. Why should she say 'Yes' at once? Oughtshe not to try him yet a little while before she gave herself to him?She remembered that until today she had not known that she loved him:perhaps it was all an illusion, created by the Nile.
He saw the look in her face, and as he leaned back heavily against therailing his heart sank within him. Was she only playing with him? Didshe only feel for him what he felt for her?
"Well?" he asked, and his hands were clenched upon the iron rail.
She did not answer. She stood staring at him with fixed eyes, and as shedid so a sensation of annoyance passed across his mind.
"Ah!" he muttered. "You don't love me. You're only amusing yourself withme."
"Rupert!" she exclaimed.
Seeing that his tactics were correct, he allowed his anger to develop.He made a dramatic gesture and flung himself back against the railing.At the same moment the paddle-wheel beneath him began suddenly torevolve, as the captain manoeuvred the ship towards the shore. There wasa slight lurch; Rupert uttered an exclamation; he seemed to sway awayfrom her; and, heels over head, he fell into the churning water.
Muriel sprang forward. In the half-light she saw the soles of his shoesdisappear as the black water swallowed him; then a dripping, writhingform was lifted on a blade of the paddle and tossed into the air. Shesaw his horrified eyes and his spread fingers. She heard him shriek....
"Help!" she screamed, and, screaming, she rushed across the deck. "Help!Help!"
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