The charm was a little tattered, but it was good enough for Esin. “Oh, yes, but I was frightened for a while; there was fighting and we had to run away.”

“Tell me about it,” Sethos murmured.

Her account was accurate, on the whole, though she made a thrilling tale of it. Sethos listened attentively, his mobile countenance expressing admiration, astonishment, and distress at appropriate intervals, but I could tell she had not his complete attention. He was listening and waiting – as were we all.

The sunlight deepened to amber and then faded into gray, and there was still no sign of Sir Edward. Ramses lighted the lamps. I was about to suggest we do something about supper when the long-awaited sound of footsteps was heard and Sir Edward came into the room. In that first moment he had eyes only for his chief. Had I doubted the warmth of their friendship, the looks of relief on both faces would have proved it. Being English, they did not express their feelings.

“It’s good to see you, sir,” Sir Edward said coolly. “Mustafa told me you were here.”

“You ought to have been here” was the equally cool reply. “Sit down and have a cup of tea.”

“It’s cold,” I said, inspecting the sad dregs.

“I’ll take it anyhow.” Sir Edward dropped heavily onto the divan next to Emerson. “Sorry, Professor, I wasn’t able to get your whiskey. The house -”

“Then we will have to settle for claret,” said Sethos, going to the wine cabinet. “My supplies have become somewhat depleted. Amelia?”

“Yes,” I said, answering both the spoken question and the unspoken order. “Esin, I suggest you – er – go to your room and rest.”

“I don’t need to rest,” said the young person. “I am not tired.”

“Then help Selim find us something to eat.”

I gave Selim a wink and a nod. As a rule this was all Selim needed, but this time I had to give him a little poke, for he was not looking at me. His intent black eyes were fixed on Sethos.

“Your pardon, Sitt Hakim,” he said, starting.

I repeated the suggestion. He nodded obediently, and got Esin to go with him by requesting the details of her daring escape from her father’s house. “Such courage,” I heard him say, as they left the room. “Such cleverness!”

Sethos turned from the cabinet, the bottle in one hand and the corkscrew in the other. “Report,” he said curtly.

“The town’s quiet,” Sir Edward said. “Less damage than I had expected. The house is guarded by several soldiers and they’re scouring the countryside looking for you people. According to the worthy citizens of Khan Yunus, you simply vanished into thin air, like the djinn you are reputed to be. The military hasn’t accepted that, though.” He took the glass Sethos handed him and went on, “They haven’t made up their minds whether you were abducted by force or went off on your own, for purposes of your own. Either way, they want you.”

Ramses took the bottle from Sethos, who had neglected the rest of us in his concern for his aide, and poured wine for Nefret and me.

“What about Gaza?” Sethos asked.

“The place is shut up tighter than a prison.” Sir Edward sipped his wine appreciatively. “I made contact with one of our lads – Hassan. He’d just got back from an attempt to enter the city by his usual route, but what he saw made him veer off. They’re stopping everyone.”

“Shutting the barn door after the horse is stolen,” I said with a smile.

“Ha,” said Emerson, motioning Ramses to fill his glass. “Any news of Sahin Pasha?”

Sir Edward shook his head, and Sethos said, “It will take them a while to decide how to deal with him. The most sensible course of action would be to execute him and announce he’d been assassinated by the vile British.”

“That was your plan, then,” I said. “To make him appear guilty of treason.”

“I didn’t have a plan when I started out,” Sethos said snappishly. “My orders were to remove him – pleasant little euphemism, isn’t it? One learns to take advantage of unexpected events. We were damned lucky. All of us.”

“It took more than luck,” Ramses said grudgingly. His uncle gave him a mocking bow.

“Selim can’t keep the girl away for long,” I said. “And I certainly don’t want her to know her father may be under arrest and facing death. We must decide what we are going to do with her.”

“Quite right, Amelia,” said my brother-in-law. “You’ll have to take her back to Cairo, and the sooner, the better. The sooner you are all back in Cairo, the better.”

“What about you?” I asked. “And Sir Edward?”

“Don’t concern yourself about us. As soon as it’s light I want you all to return to Khan Yunus. That will stop them searching the whole damned neighborhood and finding this place, which wouldn’t be convenient for me. Make your preparations to leave Khan Yunus and get the hell away. You’ll have to come up with some story to explain the girl. The military mustn’t know who she is, or take her from you.”

“As if I would leave a girl of eighteen with a troop of soldiers,” I said with a sniff. “What do we do with her when we reach Cairo?”

“Take her to an address I will give you.” He glanced at Ramses. “Memorize it; don’t write it down.”

“That’s it, then,” said Emerson, hearing Selim and Esin returning. “You have nothing more to tell us?”

Sethos made sure we had no chance to ask for more. After a scratch meal he went off with Sir Edward, instructing us to get our gear together and be ready for an early departure. We did not see him again until morning.

It was still dark when we gathered in the courtyard, with only the light of our torches to guide our steps. The horses were waiting.

“Good-bye,” said Sethos. “A safe journey.”

He shook Emerson’s hand and mine. “When will we see you again?” I asked.

“When you least expect me, Amelia dear. That’s my trademark.” He smiled at me. “You’ll hear from me soon, I promise. Good-bye, Nefret. Try and keep Ramses out of mischief.”

“I always do.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “Take care of yourself. Sir Edward, try and keep him out of mischief.”

“Don’t I get a kiss?” that gentleman inquired.

She laughed at him, and gave him her hand. “Good luck. And thank you.”

We reached Khan Yunus by midmorning and went at once to the house, followed by a throng of idlers. The gate was closed, and there were two soldiers guarding it. They snapped to attention, rifles raised, when they saw us, and then one of them exclaimed, “It’s them!”

“Grammar, young man,” I said. “It is indeed we. Let us pass, if you please.”

Selim went at once to his beloved motorcar. “They have stolen two of the tires!” he cried in anguished tones.

“That’s easily remedied,” said Emerson, helping me to dismount. “Come along, Selim, you can play with the motorcar later.”

A quick inspection assured us that the house was deserted and that a good many items were missing, including the best part of “the favorite’s” elegant wardrobe. “Can’t be helped,” said Emerson. “Lucky we had everything we needed with us. Let us go to the mak’ad. I expect we will be receiving a visit soon.”

“Yes, our arrival will have been reported,” I agreed. “Esin, I want you to stay here in the harem.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“You are an enemy alien,” Nefret said. “If the soldiers find out you are here, they will take you away.”

I hadn’t intended to be quite so blunt about it, but the warning had the desired effect. Esin’s rounded cheeks paled.

“We won’t let them take you,” Ramses said quickly. “Just stay out of sight and keep quiet.”

“I would very much like a bath,” I said. “But that will have to wait until we round up a few of the servants. In the meantime, what about a nice hot cup of tea?”

The inefficiency of the military was disappointing. It took them an hour to react to the news that we had returned. The open arches of the mak’ad constituted an excellent observation post; we were sipping a second cup of tea when he burst into the courtyard, kicked an unfortunate chicken out of his path, and came to a stop, staring. Emerson leaned over the rail and called to him.