I did not have to deal with the young person after all. She had actually ventured to disobey me! When I came down into the courtyard I saw that the front door stood open and that Ali and Katherine were looking out. Katherine turned as I approached.

“What was that all about?” she demanded.

“What was what all about?”

“The frantic flight of little Miss Hamilton. I was crossing the courtyard when she came pelting down the stairs; she almost knocked me over in her wild rush for the door. I didn’t know she was here. Should we go after her?”

From where I stood I could see along the road in both directions. There was no sign of a flying pink figure, only the usual pedestrian and vehicular traffic. I considered Katherine’s question. The girl had got here by herself. So far as I was concerned, she could get herself away without my assistance. It was not the decision of a kind Christian woman, but at that moment I did not feel very kindly toward Miss Molly.

“I think not,” I replied. “She is out of sight now; we have no way of knowing whether she went to the train station, or hired a conveyance.”

“She ran out into the road and stopped a carriage, Sitt Hakim,” Ali volunteered. “She had money; she showed it to the driver.”

That news relieved my conscience, which had been struggling to make itself heard over my justifiable annoyance. I promised myself that I would telephone her uncle later, on some pretext, to make sure she had got home safely.

Katherine was frowning slightly. As we returned to the courtyard she said, “Something must have happened to upset her. What was she doing here?”

The others had come down for tea. I heard voices in the sitting room, and Cyrus’s deep chuckle. I saw no need to discuss the affair with the men, so I stopped and gave Katherine an explanation which was the truth, if not the whole truth.

“Her uncle is sending her home. She doesn’t want to go. You know how unreasonable children can be; she had some nonsensical notion of staying with us.”

“She’s old enough to know better,” Katherine said.

“But badly spoiled. There is no need to mention this to the others, Katherine.”

“As you like, Amelia dear.”

Ramses was slow in making an appearance. After a quick involuntary glance at me, to which I responded with a nod and a smile, he avoided my eyes. I trust I may not be accused of maternal prejudice when I say that I did not wonder at the child—or at any of the other women who had made nuisances of themselves about him. He was a fine-looking young man, with his father’s handsome features and the easy grace of an athlete, but there was something more: the indefinable glow cast upon a countenance by the beauty of a noble character, of kindness and modesty and courage…

“What are you smiling at, Mother?” He had seen my fond look. It made him extremely nervous. He adjusted his tie and passed his hand over his hair, trying to flatten the clustering curls.

“A pleasant little private thought, my dear,” I replied. And private it must remain; he would have been horribly embarrassed if I had voiced my thoughts aloud.

When we parted to dress for dinner, neither of the girls had returned. I was not uneasy about Anna, for I supposed her tardiness was designed solely to annoy her mother, but I had begun to be a bit concerned about Nefret. Fatima had seen her leaving the house dressed in riding kit, so I betook myself to the stables, where I met Ramses coming out.

“She isn’t back yet,” he said.

“So I gather. Was she alone?”

“Yes. Jamal offered to go with her, but she said she was meeting someone.”

“She might have told Jamal that to prevent his accompanying her,” I said. “He has developed a boyish attachment to her.”

“She might.”

“We may as well go and change. She will be along soon, I’m sure.”

We returned to the house together. After Ramses had gone upstairs I stole away into the telephone room and rang through to the Savoy . When I asked for Major Hamilton the servant informed me he was out. Miss Nordstrom was in, however, and in a few moments I was speaking with her.

I am, if I may say so, something of an expert at extracting information while giving away very little. I did not have to be especially clever this time. Poor Miss Nordstrom was in such a state of bustle and exasperation that a single statement set her off.

“I hear that you and your charge will be departing soon for England .”

She didn’t even ask who had told me. She thanked me effusively for having the courtesy to bid her bon voyage, apologized for the suddenness of their departure, which left her no time to pay the proper farewell calls, lamented over the discomfort of a sea voyage in winter and told me how glad she was to be returning to civilization. Not until the end of the conversation did she mention, as an additional grievance, that Molly had got away from her that afternoon and had not returned until teatime.

“You can imagine my state of nerves, Mrs. Emerson! I was about to send for the police when she came back, as cool and unconcerned as if she hadn’t frightened me half to death. She flatly refused to tell me where she had been.”

Thank goodness, I thought. I could have invented a story to explain why Molly had come to us—or rather, I could have told that part of the truth that did not involve Ramses—but now I did not have to.

“So,” Miss Nordstrom continued, “it is just as well we are sailing tomorrow. She is a very willful young person and I cannot control her properly here. I shudder to think of what could happen to her in this wicked city!”

Not so wicked a city as London . I kept this thought to myself, since I did not wish to prolong the conversation.

My conscience being at ease about the child, I was able to concentrate on my uneasiness about Nefret. It was not unheard of for her to go riding, alone or with a friend, but the fact that she had not mentioned a name roused the direst of suspicions. Instead of going to my room I lingered in the hall, rearranging a vase of flowers, straightening a picture, and listening. I had not realized how worried I was until I heard a prolonged howl from the infernal dog. Relief actually weakened my frame. Nefret was the only one he greeted in that manner.

The door opened and she slipped in. Seeing me, she stopped short. “I thought you’d be changing,” she said. It sounded like an accusation.

I could only stare in consternation. Her loosened hair hung down below her shoulders, and her hands were gloveless. There was something odd about the fit of her tailored coat; it had been buttoned askew. I seized her by the shoulders and drew her into the light.

“Have you been crying?” I demanded. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Aunt Amelia, please don’t ask questions, just let me—”

She broke off with a gasp, and I turned to see what she was staring at.

“So you’re back,” Ramses said. “Is something wrong?”

He hadn’t changed, or even brushed his hair, which looked as if he had been tugging at it. As his eyes moved over Nefret’s disheveled form and dust-smeared face, a wave of burning red rose from her throat to her hairline.

“I’m late. I’m sorry. I’ll hurry.” Face averted, she ran for the stairs.

Though I despise social conventions in general, I would be the first to admit that there are sensible reasons behind certain of them. For example, the avoidance of controversial subjects and heated argument at the dinner table promotes digestion. Despite my best efforts I was unable to keep the conversation that night on a light pleasant note. Anna had been so late in arriving that there was not time for her to change before Fatima called us to dinner. I felt certain the girl had done it deliberately to annoy Katherine and perhaps make the rest of us feel like slackers. The dress she wore for her hospital duties was as severe as a proper nurse’s uniform.