“Bit you, did she? Here, let me have her. Now, my dear, there is no need for all this exhausting activity; she is safe and unharmed and if you behave yourself I will allow you to keep one another company while I complete the preparations you so rudely interrupted. If you don’t, I will lock you in a dark cupboard with the mops and brooms and black beetles. Good. I see you are susceptible to reason. Hamza, unlock the door. Amelia, stand back; I know you have your ear pressed to the panel, and I am running short of time.”

It was as well I obeyed. The door flew open and I saw—as I had known I would—my daughter and my dread adversary. One arm pinned her arms to her sides and held her firmly; the other hand covered her mouth. Her hair was coming down and her eyes shone with fury but she had had the sense to stop struggling.

“It would be a waste of breath to scream or swear, Miss Forth,” Sethos said, propelling her into the room. “Do so if it will relieve your feelings, but first give me the knife I feel certain you have concealed about your person. The alternative would be for me to search you, and I will not take that liberty unless you force me to. Amelia would not approve.”

He removed his hand from her mouth, leaving the marks of his fingers imprinted on her cheek. She swallowed, and I said quickly, “Give him the knife, Nefret. This is not the time for heroics or temper.”

Her eyes moved from me to Sethos, who had backed off a step, and then to the manservant. She was calculating the odds, and admitting they were against us. She reached into a side pocket of her skirt. Set into the seam, it was open at the back, giving her access to the knife strapped to her lower limb. Slowly she withdrew it, hesitated, and then passed it into Sethos’s poised, waiting hand.

“How did you know I was here?” I demanded. “And why were you foolish enough to come alone, as I presume you—”

“Forgive me,” Sethos interrupted. “You can chat after I have gone. I am in something of a hurry, but so long as I am here…”

He took a step toward me, and then stopped and looked quizzically at Nefret. “Turn your back, Miss Forth.”

Nefret’s eyes widened. “Do it,” I said, through clenched teeth. She spun round.

I might have evaded him for a short time; but how undignified, how humiliating would have been that frantic and futile flight, with Sethos close on my heels and his long arms ready to seize me! He would probably be laughing. It would end the same, whatever I did. Better by far to submit and get it over.

So once again I felt his arms close round me and his lips explore mine. For a man who claimed to be in a hurry, he took his time about it. When he let me go I would have fallen—being off balance—had he not lowered me gently onto the foot of the couch.

“Good-bye, Amelia,” he said quietly. “And you, my dear Miss Forth…”

He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Her face was flushed and her lips were parted. He laughed and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

“Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever. Particularly at the present time. Amelia, remember what I told you.”

The door slammed and the key turned in the lock.

Nefret groped for a chair and lowered herself into it. “What did he mean?”

“Mean by what? The villain specializes in being enigmatic. My dear, did that man hurt you?”

“No.” Nefret rubbed her arm. “He humiliated me, which is even worse. I was waiting on the landing, trying to decide whether to ring or not, when he came out and caught hold of me. Oh, Aunt Amelia, I am sorry, but I didn’t know what to do! When I came back from the hospital you were all gone, all three of you, and it got darker and darker, and later and later, and there was no sign of them and no word, and I didn’t know where to start looking for them, but I did have a fairly good idea as to where you might have gone, because I suspected you had lied to me about the Count, and I couldn’t stand waiting any longer, so… I’m sorry!”

“They had not returned by the time you left?”

“No. Something has happened.”

“Nonsense,” I said firmly. “I can think of a dozen harmless reasons why they might have been delayed. Emerson is easily distracted by ruins. Never mind that now, we cannot do anything about it until we get out of here. Have you any object on your person that we might use to pick the lock or break open a shutter?”

“I had only my knife. You saw what happened to that.”

I stood up and began pacing. “Let us consider the situation rationally. We will be freed eventually; I left a message for Emerson, telling him where I had gone, and—”

“So did I. For Ramses. But what if they don’t…”

“They will. They may have returned by now, and be on their way here. If they are… if they are delayed, someone will release us eventually.”

I went to the door and put my ear against it. “I don’t hear anything. I believe Sethos has gone. He will want several hours in which to make good his escape from Cairo . By midnight —”

“ Midnight !” Nefret jumped up. “Good God, Aunt Amelia, we cannot wait so long! What makes you suppose Sethos will take the trouble to inform someone of our whereabouts?”

“He will,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. It was necessary to calm the girl; she looked like Medusa, her hair falling loose over her shoulders, her eyes wild. “But I agree we should not wait for rescue. I will get back to work on the lock—I have plenty of hairpins—and you see what you can do with the shutters. First, however… Nefret! My dear, this is not the time to succumb to faintness.”

She had pressed her hands to her face. I caught hold of her swaying form and lowered her into a chair.

“I’m not going to faint.” I had to strain to hear the low voice. Slowly she lowered her hands. “It’s all right.”

“Have a cucumber sandwich!” I snatched up the plate and offered it to her.

“No, thank you.” Her face was glowing with perspiration, but calm. She let out a long breath and smiled. “Cucumber sandwiches, Aunt Amelia?”

“We need to keep up our strength.”

“Yes, of course. I am frightfully thirsty too. Can we trust the water, do you think?”

The change in her was astonishing. She had exerted her will, under the dominance of an even stronger will, and was now an ally on whom I could depend.

“I believe we can. As you see, he has left a little note.”

It read, “You probably won’t believe me, Amelia dear, but the water is not drugged. Neither are the cucumber sandwiches.”

I handed it to Nefret, who actually laughed when she read it. “He is an amazing individual. Did he… If you don’t mind my asking…”

“He did not.”

“Oh. He did kiss you, though? When he told me to turn my back?”

I did not reply. Nefret took a sandwich. “He kissed me on the brow,” she muttered. “As if I were a child! He is strong, isn’t he? And tall, and—”

“He is a spy and a traitor,” I said. “We must stop him before he leaves Cairo . If you have fully recovered, Nefret, let us get to work.”

We had a sandwich or two (they were very good, though the bread was beginning to go stale) and a sip of water, before exploring the chamber more intensively than I had done earlier. Nefret tore the place to pieces, in fact, flinging mattress and cushions onto the floor, overturning chairs and, at last, repeatedly dashing a small brass table against the wall until it broke apart. Selecting one of the metal supports, she went to the shutters and began prying at them. Her actions were vigorous but controlled; she appeared to be in a much calmer frame of mind than she had been earlier—calmer than my own. Her statement that Ramses and Emerson had not returned by the time she left had frightened me more than I dared admit even to myself. Emerson was easily distracted by ruins, but Sethos’s claim that he had known of their purpose aroused the direst of forebodings.