by Pamela Kent
"I Aink you wish me to understand you had a very good reason for Aat?"
"But you know so little about me even Aat could be a lie! I could, for instance, have wanted to get you here for personal reasons!"
"Then in Aat case I simply cannot understand why you invited Martin Allerton to come along as well."
He laughed wiA genuine amusement.
"You are quite right, of course," he said. "If I had wanted you here simply and solely because I find you a de- light to Ae eye and could hardly wait to get you alone I would not have issued an invitation to a man who might very easily be your lover ... and I would not have invited Leah as an extra member of Ae party, eiAer!"
"Except, of course, Aat she does seem to regard you wiA raAer a special affection."
"And I have for her quite a spedal affection. But unfortunately I cannot trust her ... well, not as much as one would desire to trust her."
"Really?" Romilly put back her head and looked up at him, and Ae movement brought her small chin very close to his shoulder. "That sounds to me quite extraordinary! ... You admire her enormously - you're probably in love wiA her! - but you can't trust her."
"No." His dark eyes returned her regard very gravely in the moonlight. "Romilly! You seem to be gifted wiA Ae facility for misunderstanding everyAing I say and do, and Acre is one Aing I must make crystal clear to you.... You are in considerable danger!"
There was a sudden movement behind them, and she whirled round in alarm. She was just in time to see someone sprinting away in Ae moonlight, becoming lost in Ae blackness between a grove of palms, pursued in a flash by
Crighton Bey, who returned after a brief interval to report
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in rather an odd voice Aat Aere was no cause for alarm. ... It was simply Ae lute player who had been seeking a fresh form of entertainment by spying on them. "He was curious, Aat is all. But I Aink I gave him quite a scare. He will not return."
But Romilly was recalling the last words he had uttered to her before Ae sudden interruption, and Ae shock of Ae small disturbance had had the effect of driving all Ae colour out of her cheeks. Her eyes looked enormous.
He moved swiftly towards her, and wiA one swift natural movement he took her protectively into his arms.
"My sweet," he exclaimed, his voice full of concern, "Aere is noAing now for you to be alarmed about! It really was Ae lute player who was spying on us ... and he will not do such a Aing again. He was a simple inhabitant of Ais oasis ... nothing more sinister Aan that!"
"But you said-" "NoAing about Ae maker of music! He is just a youth. ... A mere lad!" "Then what about the - danger... ?"
For answer, she felt his mouA alight swiftly upon hers, and for Ae first time in her life she was being kissed in a way that set her senses reeling. Danger, the night, Ae oasis, Ae shining band of the river.... All were forgotten as a pair of shapely masculine lips took possession of her lips and she felt herself clinging to him. Afterwards she wondered whether she actually responded, but at the time she was aware of nothing but the sheer delight of being held in his arms, Ae almost exquisite joy of knowing they were Julius Crighton's arms, and his voice was murmuring to her as if she was a child and he had to soothe her.
"Do not fear, my little one! I promise you no danger shall ever touch you, not while I can prevent it! You are so lovely, and so vulnerable.... Why on earth do you have
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to be so vulnerable?" The stars were wheeling above her head, Ae great palm fronds doing a kind of mad dance against Ae violet night sky. "Please!" she gasped, at last, "you are taking my breaA away. Please ...!" He let her go at last, but by Aat time her whole face felt on fire from Ae touch of his devastatingly handsome mouA, her body bruised by Ae fierce pressure of his arms. He turned away abruptly, as if noAing utterly phenomenal had taken place. "Come!" he said almost curtly. "We will return to Ae house."
Music was issuing from Ae house when Aey reached it, a wildly beautiful piano concerto which someone mast have selected from a wide selection of such pieces and placed on the record player during Aeir absence. Romilly had noticed Ais handsome piece of furniture while Aey were having Aeir coffee, and she suspected it was Mrs. Mortimer who, bored perhaps by Martin Allerton's confidences, had wandered over to it and set Ae music in motion.
But when she entered Ae room slightly ahead of her host she discovered Aat it was Martin who was enjoying Ae record player, and Leah was hovering restlessly just inside Ae open french window, looking very much as if she was not merely bored but somewhat perturbed in her mind because of Ae absence of Ae host.
In fact, it would not have been an exaggeration to say she looked positively strung up, her lustrous eyes agitated and her mouA a Ain red line.
"Ah, so Aere you are, Julius!" she exclaimed, as he followed Romilly through the door. "I wondered what had happened to you and to Miss Styles also!" Her brilliant eyes fastened upon Ae English girl. "Has he been showing
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you all over Ae estate?" a certain dryness in her voice, as
if she doubted it. "You look dishevelled, as if the night
wind played havoc wiA your hair!"
Romilly scarcely answered this question, because for one reason she didn't quite know-how to explain away Ae dishevelled condition of her hair, and Martin Allerton deserted Ae record cabinet and came over to regard her somewhat curiously.
"Is Aere a wind tonight?" he asked, in a curiously naive fashion, and Romilly felt herself blush scarlet. Mrs. Mortimer's eyes ceased to be merely lustrous and flashed sparks.
"Of course there is not!" she replied for Romilly, coldly. "A breeze, perhaps, but noAing more. I suggest you wiAdraw to your room and attend to your make-up, my dear � It appears to have slipped!"
Romilly did not even look round at Crighton Bey before she left the room, only too Aankful to make her escape. As she did so, however, she heard him saying something almost sooAingly to Leah Mortimer, and Ae American whistled.
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CHAPTER VI
THE next day the entire party made an expedition into the desert, and Romilly was more Aan ever impressed by the loneliness of their situation. BoA the Bey and Mrs. Mortimer appeared to know Ae desert very well and for Aem it plainly had a great and compelling attraction, and Aey talked of the times when Aey had been lost in it without
apparently being much disturbed by such experiences.
Martin Allerton looked at Romilly and indicated by the expression in his eyes that he Aought them a raAer extra
ordinary pair; but at Ae same time he was plainly enjoying his week-end and Ae beautifully served alfresco lunch Aey
enjoyed in Ae desert, and although her attitude towards
him was not quite as encouraging as it had been Ae night
before Mrs. Mortimer plainly attracted him a good deal.
He had not precisely deserted Romilly in favour of bestowing all 'his attentions on Ae beautiful and unusual widow, but he did display Ae utmost pleasure and. grati
fication whenever she spoke to him or singled him out in
any way; and apart from liking him for what he was - an
engaging young man on a world tour - Romilly could not
have cared less if he had ignored her altogether.
For Aere had been occasions during Ae Nile steamer
trip when his, attentions to her had been difficult to cope
with, and if he had continued to pay her such attentions
during this week-end it could have been awkward.
Not that she thought her host would have objected. He
might have been amused - despite that interlude in the
Arab village which he appeared to have completely for
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gotten as soon as it was over. And hadn't he already made
it clear Aat he had invited Allerton in order Aat he should
make one of a pair with Romilly?
The latter experienced Ae most extraordinary sensations every time she r
ecalled Aat somewhat crude admission of Ae Bey's.... That he Aought Ae two of Aem got along well togeAer and might even consider seeing much more of one another in Ae future! With such an admission ringing in her ears and Ae memory of his arms holding her, and his kisses descending like rain upon her face Ae night before, she felt bewildered, and she was also conscious of a deep and abiding hurt. In fact, Ae hurt was so deep and so disturbing Aat noAing Aat happened during Ae brief drive into Ae wilderness of sand surrounding Dar el Pace really penetrated. Voices and conversation, Ae way the cars bumped along over Ae rough ground, the constant bubbling laughter of Mrs. Mortimer and Ae way she hung upon Ae host's arm at every opportunity Aat presented itself to her, passed over her head like happenings in another existence. AlAough she did notice Mrs. Mortimer's languorous glances every time Julius Crighton was near, and Ae way he responded by squeezing her hand occasionally and drawing Aat same small hand through his arm while Aey were exploring an abandoned "dig" which apparently interested Aem boA enormously, and discussing Ae possibilities of reopening Ae site.
"We've reason to believe Aat a good deal of treasure is hidden away somewhere below the ground here," she told Romilly, when Ae two women found themselves temporarily alone on a narrow track. She kicked at the surface of Ae track wiA her dainty white heel. "Extraordinary, isn't it, that people who lived and died thousands of years ago should have been left undisturbed for so long?"
"I Aought Aere were hardly any tombs Aat had not been
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partially disturbed by tomb robbers," Romilly replied,
Ainking that the pale lemon yellow of her silk shantung
outfit was exactly Ae colour of a lemon-yellow ice, and as
cool-looking and delectable in that arid wilderness.
Leah smiled at her quite brightly as if she appreciated Ae intelligence of such a reply.
"Well, as a matter of fact you're absolutely right," she told her. "Most of Ae tombs were ransacked shortly after Aey were closed. In fact, we Aink it highly likely that some of them were desecrated even before Aey were offidally closed. But, as Ae discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb proved, some of them escaped that sort of thing, or perhaps Ae entrance was better concealed. We suspect that a raAer little-known-about younger brother of a very important pharaoh is buried somewhere here, and as he was very rich
-in fact, almost unbelievably rich - Ae find, when it is discovered, should be a good one. Well worA any efforts
ours to trace him to his final resting place."
Romilly surveyed her curiously.
"And you don't think it would be better not to disturb him?" she asked. "To leave him in peace after all Aese years?" Mrs. Mortimer smiled at her almost contemptuously. "My dear, of course not," she replied. "All that wealth and all Aat splendid jewellery and oAer ornaments to be
allowed to rot in Ae ground for ever.... Of course not!"
she repeated. "Unthinkable when one is at last on the track of it! Besides, if we don't find it someone else will, sooner or later."
"Yes, I suppose so," Romilly answered slowly.
"And in any case, you don't suppose we shall be allowed to take possession of it, do you? The Egyptian government will do that. But," her eyes beginning to sparkle again, "Aere are always pickings!"
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"Like my late aunt's little golden love god?" Romilly asked.
Instantly a change came over Mrs. Mortimer's face. She looked very Aoughtful indeed, and she opened her handbag and took out a delicate toy of a cigarette-case and lighted herself a cigarette.
"Ah, yes," she echoed, "Ae God of Love! Have you by any chance discovered where it is hidden, or aren't you making any attempt to find out ? "
"I don't want to find out. And besides, I think someone already knows where it is."
"Oh, yes?"
The beautiful, basilisk eyes were quite unreadable.
"Do tell me where you got such a notion from. I couldn't be more interested!"
"I'm sure sure you could not," Romilly nearly replied, but didn't. Instead, she paused for a moment, and Aen said: "My aunt left instructions where I could find it, but when I followed Ae instructions Aere was noAing Aere. I gaAered, of course, Aat someone had been Aere boefore me."
"Someone in Ae know?" "If you mean, someone who was also in my aunt's confidence - well, no, I don't!"
Mrs. Mortimer inhaled deeply on her dgarette, and Aen allowed the smoke to trickle delicately from her slender nostrils and surround her lovely head in a kind of misty, fragrantly smelling aura.
"Naturally, I'm madly interested in your little love god," she said, rather drawlingly, "but apart from commiserating wiA you because you have apparently been deprived of a small fortune there isn't much else I can say, is Aere? And ar the moment I'm utterly obsessed by the marvellous possibilities Ae site here holds out." She turned and prepared
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to lead Ae way farther along Ae lonely track, which appeared to peter out in a mass of scaffolding; cranes and oAer equipment, all of which had obviously oeen temporarily abandoned. "All this is at a standstill for Ae moment, because unfortunately we've run out of funds to carry on. I've invested as much money of my own as I feel I can reasonably afford, and Julius isn't exactly offering to pour any more of his into it ... at least, he won't until I've got to work on him. He's as keen on Ae project as I am, but being a man he's horribly hard-headed. He's not entirely satisfied that Ae rewards are really here for us to find -"
"You mean all Aat treasure you were talking about? All Aose jewels and ornaments ?" Leah glanced backwards at her over her shoulder, and her slanting Egyptian eyes were cold.
"Yes, but I Aink I also pointed out to you that we stand to gain nothing at all save a certain amount of notoriety, and it is the Egyptian authorities Aat will gain. Which is one reason why I mustn't be tempted to sink any more of my own money, although I'm sorely tempted."
They came to a barrier of barbed wire, which was obviously there for the purpose of shutting off an enclosure, and she pointed downwards.
"The chamber we have already uncovered is down Aere." Her delicately varnished finger-nail indicated the direction of the "find". "As an outer chamber it's not very impressive, but my knowledge of Ais subject is sufficient to enable me to know that it is merely one of a succession of such chambers. And the more there are of Aese outer chambers, or galleries, the greater the indication is that the cleverly protected inner chamber, where Ae body will be found, will be really worth searching for. In fact, I'd be prepared to swear Aat in this case Ac discovery will be shattering!"
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"Really?" Lean's eyes were gleaming, and she had an unusually high colour in her cheeks as she stood Aere in Ae blazing sunshine wiAout even a hat to protect her shining dark head. Some of her excitement communicated itself ID Romilly, and she moved closer to Ae barricade and tried to get a better view of what lay below them. "You make it all sound terribly interesting, and I'm surprised that you know so much about this sort of thing. I can understand raAer eccentric characters like my late aunt making archaeology a kind of hobby; but you don't - if you'll forgive me for saying so! - look the kind of woman to take such a violent interest in Ae past. You are so very much alive..."
"Thank you." The vivid lips smiled wiA a certain amount of appreciation at such a description of herself. "I'm certainly Aat. But Ae past intrigues me enormously
-particularly Egypt's past. You could say it's my life!" "How - strange!" Romilly stared at her, because she really Aought it strange. "Then, in that case, I hope you find Ae money to continue your dig."
"Oh, we will!" She turned and stared at Romilly somewhat Aoughtfully for a moment. "You've displayed a certain amount of interest in Ais sort of thing yourself, and I don't think you would have come all this way from England to settle Aings up with your lawyer if you hadn't had a good deal of your aunt's curiosity about Egypt seething somewhere in your veins. And that being Ae case you simply mustn't be allowed to depart without being shown something m
ore of what we've discovered here."
She hesitated, glancing back along the track, where no one was in sight.
"I don't Aink Acre's time now. But we could make
time!"
"Leah!"
A voice called auAoritatively from somewhere above
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Aem, and Romilly looked up and saw, standing on a ridge of sand Aat overlooked Ae excavation, Julius Crighton, frowning down so ferociously Aat she wondered what could be Ae matter.
He came scrambling down to join Aem, and Aere was no doubt about it he was in no ordinary mood when he finally reached them. He appeared to be breathing heavily, as if he ha.d exerted himself considerably to cover Ae ground in Ae shortest possible space of time, and, accustomed Aough he was to heat, he was feeling it as much as any of Aem as he wiped beads of sweat from his forehead. Romilly, who had never seen him look so disturbed before, or quite so much at a disadvantage by comparison wiA Ae immaculate crispness of Mrs. Mortimer and her own fairly untroubled appearance, stared at him openly in some astonishment. He returned her regard beneaA lowering brows and Aen turned brusquely away.
"We wondered where you two had got to," he said shortly. "Come and have some lunch. I believe Mustapha has it all set out."
Mrs. Mortimer laughed, a low, amused bubble of sound, as she walked at his side, and as she slid a hand familiarly inside his arm she remarked that he was being excessively careful about Aem, which she personally found raAer flattering.
"And I was merely trying to persuade Romilly Aat she must see Ae inside of our dig before we leave your house tomorrow," she explained. "She's almost as interested as you and I are, and it would be a pity if she missed the opportunity to be in on the ground floor of what might turn out to be a wonderful discovery."
Julius made some reply which was barely intelligible, and she shot a long, sideways glance at him and smiled wiA her lips, but not her eyes.
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"Oh, come!" she exclaimed, as if remonstrating wiA him. "You must agree wiA me! There really is a good deal to see-"
"Not yet," he answered. "There might be one day, but not yet."
"Even so, Romilly is intelligent enough to be able to assess Ae potential of what we have discovered. And I have given her my word Aat I Aink it's a great discovery! Perhaps tomorrow morning, before we leave, we could let her have a peep at Ae audience chamber..."