The Snake, The Crocodile, And The Dog Part 3

"Miss Mclntosh did not know he was coming either. He was looking for a school for his sister, for whom he is guardian, and expressed a wish to meet some of the other young ladies in order to see if they would be suitable a.s.sociates for her. He must be very rich, because Miss Mclntosh was extremely polite to him. He was also very handsome. One of the girls, Winifred, desired him." She saw my expression and her smile faded. "I have said something wrong."

"Er-not wrong. That is not quite the way Winifred would put it . . ."

"You see?" She spread her hands wide in a gesture as graceful as it was somehow alien. "I cannot speak without making such mistakes. I have not read the books they have read or heard the music I cannot play on the piano or sing as they sing or speak languages- "

"Nor can they," I said with a snort. "A few words of French and German- "

"Enough to say things I do not understand, and then look at one another and laugh. They have always acted so, but today, when Sir Henry sat beside me and looked at me instead of looking at Winifred, every word was a veiled insult. They talked only of things of which I am ignorant, and asked me questions- oh, so sweetly!- to which I did not know the answers. Winifred asked me to sing. I had already told her I could not."

"What did you do?"

Nefret's expression was particularly demure "I sang I sang the Invocation to Isis."

"The ..." I paused to swallow. "The chant you sang in the temple of the Holy Mountain? Did you . . . dance, as you did then?"

"Oh, yes, it is part of the ritual. Sir Henry said I was enchanting. But I do not think Miss Mclntosh will ask me to come to tea again."

I could not help it. I laughed till the tears flowed from my eyes. "Well, never mind," I said, wiping them away. "You will not have to go there again. I will have a word to say to Helen! Why I ever listened to her- "

"But I will go back," Nefret said quietly "Not soon, but after I have learned what I must know, when I have read the books and learned their silly languages, and how to stick myself with a needle." She leaned toward me and put her hand on mine- a rare and meaningful gesture from so undemonstrative a girl "I have been thinking, Aunt Amelia. This is my world and I must learn to live in it. The task will not be so painful, there are many things I desire to learn. I must go to school. Oh, not to a place like that, it cannot teach me quickly enough, and I am not- quite- brave enough to face girls like those every day. You say I have a great deal of money. Will it pay for teachers who will come to me?"

"Yes, of course. I was about to suggest something of the sort, but I thought you needed time to rest and accustom yourself to- "

"I did, and I have had it These weeks with you, and the professor, and my brother Ramses, and my friends Gargery and the cat Bastet have been like the Christian Heaven my father told me about. But I cannot hide in my secret garden forever You had thought, I believe, to take me with you to Egypt this winter."

"Had thought . . ." For a moment I could not speak. I conquered the unworthy, contemptible emotion that swelled my throat, and forced the words out. "We had, yes. You seem interested in archaeology- "

"I am, and one day, perhaps, I will pursue that study. But first it is necessary to learn many other things. Would Mrs. Evelyn and Mr. Walter Emerson let me stay with them this winter, do you think? If I have so much money, I can pay them."

Tactfully, as is my wont, I explained that friends do not accept or offer payment for acts of kindness, but in every other way the plan was exactly what I would have suggested myself, if I had dared to propose it. I could have hired tutors and teachers who would have stuffed Nefret with information like a goose being fed for foie gras, but she could not learn from them what she really needed- the graciousness and deportment of a well-bred lady. There could be no better model than Evelyn, nor a more sympathetic guide. Walter could feed the girl's l.u.s.t for learning while satisfying his own In short, the solution was ideal. I had not proposed it because I did not wish to be accused, even by my own conscience, of neglecting my duty. Besides, I had not imagined for a moment that it would be considered acceptable by any of the parties concerned.

Now Nefret herself had proposed the scheme, and she stuck to her decision with a quiet determination that was impossible to combat. Emerson did his best to persuade her to change her mind, especially after Ramses, to the astonishment of everyone but myself, concluded that he would also remain in England that winter.

"I don't know why you persist in arguing with him," I said to Emerson, who was storming up and down the library as is his habit when perturbed. "You know that when Ramses makes up his mind, he never changes it. Besides, the scheme has a number of things to recommend it."

Emerson stopped pacing and glared at me. "I see none."

"We have often discussed the one-sidedness of Ramses's education.

In some ways he is as ignorant as Nefret. Oh, I grant you, no one mummifies mice or mixes explosives better than Ramses, but those skills have limited utility. As for the social graces- "

Emerson let out a growling noise. Any mention of the social graces has that effect on him. "I told you,"

I went on, "about how the girls taunted Nefret."

My husband's handsome countenance reddened. Thwarted choler was responsible, he had been unable, in this case, to apply his favorite redress for injustice. One cannot punch young ladies on the jaw or thrash a respectable middle-aged headmistress. He looked rather forlorn as he stood there, his fists clenched and his shoulders squared, like a great bull tormented by the p.r.i.c.ks and stabs of the picadors. Forlorn, yet majestic, for, as I have had occasion to remark, Emerson's impressive muscular development and n.o.ble features can never appear less than magnificant. Rising, I went to him and put my hand on his arm.

"Would it be so terrible, Emerson? Just the two of us, alone, as we used to be? Is my companionship so displeasing to you?"

The muscles of his arm relaxed. "Don't talk nonsense, Peabody," he muttered, and, as I had hoped he would, he took me into his embrace.

So it was arranged. Needless to say, Evelyn and Walter entered into the scheme with delight. I hastened to make the necessary arrangements for our departure before Emerson could change his mind.

He moped a bit, before and after we left, and I must confess I felt an unexpected sensation of loss when the steamer pulled away from the dock and I waved farewell to those who stood below. I had not realized Ramses had grown so much. He looked st.u.r.dy and dependable as he stood there- next to Nefret, of course. Evelyn was on Nefret's other side, her arm around the girl, Walter held his wife's arm and flapped his handkerchief vigorously. They made a pretty family group.

Since we had been able to get off early in the season, we had determined to take the boat from London to Port Sa'id instead of following the quicker but less convenient route by train to Ma.r.s.eille or Brindisi before boarding a steamer. I hoped the sea voyage would reconcile Emerson and put him in a proper frame of mind. The moon obliged me, spreading ripples of silvery light across the water as we strolled the deck hand in hand, gliding through the porthole of our cabin to inspire the tenderest demonstrations of connubial affection And I must say it was a pleasant change to indulge in those demonstrations without wondering whether we had forgotten to lock Ramses in bis cabin.

Emerson did not respond as quickly as I had hoped, being given to occasional fits of frowning abstraction, but I felt certain his gloomy mood would lift as soon as we set foot on the soil of Egypt. That moment was now only hours away, already I fancied I could see the dim outline of the coast, and I moved my hand closer to the strong brown hand that lay near it on the rail.

"We are almost there," I said brightly.

"Hmph," said Emerson, frowning.

He did not take my hand. "What the devil is the matter with you?" I inquired. "Are you still sulking about Ramses?"

"I never sulk," Emerson grumbled. "What a word! Tact is not one of your strong points, Peabody, but I must confess I had expected you to demonstrate the emphathy of understanding you claim to feel for me and my thoughts. The truth is, I have a, strange foreboding- "

"Oh, Emerson, how splendid!" I cried, unable to contain my delight. "I knew that one day you, too- "

"The word was ill-chosen," Emerson said, glowering. "Your forebodings, Amelia, are solely the products of your rampageous imagination. My- er- uneasiness stems from rational causes."

"As do all such hints of approaching disaster, including mine. I hope you do not suppose I am superst.i.tious! I? No, premonitions and forebodings are the result of clues unnoticed by the waking mind, but recorded and interpreted by that ulnsleeping portion of the brain which- "

"Amelia." I was thrilled to observe thait Emerson's blue eyes had taken on the sapphirine glitter indicative of rising temper. The dimple (which he prefers to call a "cleft") in his well-shaped chin quivered ominously. "Amelia, are you interested in hearing my views or expressing your own?"

Ordinarily I would have enjoyed on,e of those animated discussions that so often enliven the course of our rtnarital relationship, but I wanted nothing to mar the bliss of this moment.

"I beg your pardon, my dear Emersoin. pray express your forebodings without reserve."

"Hmph," said Emerson. For a morrnent he was silent-testing my promise, or gathering his thoughts- and I occupied myself in gazing upon him with the admiration that ssight always induces. The wind blew his dark locks away from his intellectual brow (for he had declined, as usual, to wear a hat) and molded tlhe linen of his shirt to his broad breast (for he had refused to put on his coat until we were ready to disembark). His profile (for he had ttnrned from me, to gaze out across the blue waters) might have servedl as the model for Praxiteles or Michelangelo- the boldly sculpturecd arch of the nose, the firm chin and jaw, the strong yet sensitive cuirve of the lips. The lips parted. (Finally!) He spoke.

"We stopped at Gibraltar and Mallta."

"Yes, Emerson, we did." By biting cdown on my lip I managed to say no more.

"We found letters and newspaper from home awaiting us at both places."

"I know that, Emerson. They came overland by train, more quickly than we ..." A premonition of my own made my voice falter. "Pray continue."

Emerson turned slowly, resting one arm on the rail. "Did you read the newspapers, Peabody?"

"Some of them."

"The Daily Yell? Daily Yell?"

I do not lie unless it is absolutely necessary. "Was the Yell Yell among the newspapers, Emerson?" among the newspapers, Emerson?"

"It is an interesting question, Peabody." Emerson's voice had dropped to the growling purr that presages an explosion. "I thought you might know the answer, for I did not until this morning, when I happened to observe one of the other pa.s.sengers reading that contemptible rag. When I inquired where he had got it-for the date was that of the seventeenth, three days after we left London-he informed me that several copies had been taken aboard at Malta."