Amelia Peabody Omnibus 1-4 (142 page)

‘Let me work for a brief time without distraction,’ he groaned piteously. ‘The stratification of the structure next to the pyramid is not clear in my mind as yet.’

I knew what Emerson was up to. He had no more intention than I did of sitting with folded hands awaiting Sethos’ next move. He was deceiving me, the sly fellow – trying to get the jump on me in another of our amiable competitions in criminology. Well, I thought, smiling to myself – two can play that game, Professor Radcliffe Emerson! I had a few cards up my own sleeve.

‘Very well,’ I said pleasantly. ‘That will give me a chance to explore the interior of the subsidiary pyramid.’

‘It will prove a wasted effort, Mama,’ said Ramses. ‘The burial chamber is empty. Indeed, I suspect it was never used for a burial, since its dimensions are only seven feet by–’

‘Ramses,’ I said.

‘Yes, Mama?’

‘Did I not, on an earlier occasion, forbid you to go inside a pyramid without permission?’

Ramses pursed his lips thoughtfully. ‘Indeed you did, Mama, and I assure you I have not forgotten. I might claim that since you were present, though at some little distance, I was not violating the literal sense of the command. However, that would be disingenuous. In fact, my position was on the very edge of the entrance opening – technically neither in nor out – and I had every intention of remaining there, and would have done so, but for the fact that a careless move on my part caused me to lose my footing and slide down the passage, which, if you recall, had a slope of perhaps forty-five degrees fifteen minutes. It was my body striking the wall that disturbed the delicate equilibrium of the structure, whose stones had already been–’

‘Ramses.’

‘Yes, Mama. I will endeavour to be brief. Once the passage was blocked and I realized that my strength was inadequate for the purpose of freeing myself, I took advantage of my position to explore the rest of the interior, knowing it would be some time before my absence was noted and a rescue party–’

‘I think, my son,’ said Emerson uneasily, ‘that your mama will excuse you now. You had better go to bed.’

‘Yes, Papa. But first there is a matter I feel obliged to bring to Mama’s attention. Gregson is–’

‘I will hear no more, wretched boy,’ I exclaimed, rising to my feet. ‘I am thoroughly out of sorts with you, Ramses. Take yourself off at once.’

‘But, Mama–’

I started toward Ramses, my arm upraised – not indeed to strike, for I do not believe in corporal punishment for the young except in cases of extreme provocation – but to grasp him and take him bodily to his room. Misinterpreting my intentions, the cat Bastet rose in fluid haste and wrapped her heavy body around my forearm, sinking her teeth and claws into my sleeve. Emerson persuaded the cat of her error and removed her – claw by claw – but instead of apologizing, she chose to be offended. She and Ramses marched off side by side, both radiating offended hauteur, the cat by means of her stiff stride and switching tail, Ramses by neglecting to offer his usual formula of nightly farewell. I daresay they would have slammed the door if there had been one to slam.

Emerson then suggested we retire. ‘After such a day, Peabody, you must be exhausted.’

‘Not at all,’ I said. ‘I am ready to go on talking for hours if you like.’

Emerson declined this offer, however, and after gathering our belongings we started for our tent. I was uneasy about leaving the others, but we had taken all possible precautions, requesting Abdullah to close and bar the gates and to set a guard. I felt sure I could rely on Donald, not only to watch over both his charges, but to maintain a respectful distance from one of them. Poor boy, he was so in awe of the girl, he hardly dared speak to her, much less approach her.

I promised myself I would have a little talk with him on that subject. For in my opinion (which is based on considerable experience), there is nothing that annoys a woman so much as fawning, servile devotion. It brings out the worst in women – and in men, let me add, for a tendency to bully the meek is not restricted to my sex, despite the claims of misogynists. If someone lies down and invites you to trample him, you are a remarkable person if you decline the invitation.

I told Emerson this as we strolled side by side through the starlit night. I half-expected him to sneer, for he takes a poor view of my interest in the romantic affairs of young people; instead he said thoughtfully, ‘So you recommend the Neanderthal approach, do you?’

‘Hardly. What I recommend is that all couples follow our example of marital equality.’

I reached for his hand. It lay lax in my grasp for a moment; then his strong fingers twined around mine and he said, ‘Yet you seem to be saying that a certain degree of physical and moral force–’

‘Do you remember remarking on one occasion that you had been tempted to snatch me up onto a horse and ride with me into the desert?’ I laughed. Emerson did not; in fact, his look was strangely wistful as he replied, ‘I do remember saying it. Are you suggesting I ought to have done so?’

‘No, for I would have resisted the attempt with all the strength at my disposal,’ I replied cheerfully. ‘No woman wants to be carried off against her will; she only wants a man to want to do it! Of course, for old married folk like us, such extravagance would be out of place.’

‘No doubt,’ Emerson said morosely.

‘I admit that a proper compromise between tender devotion and manly strength is difficult to achieve. But Donald has gone too far in one direction, and I intend to tell him so at the earliest possible opportunity. He adores her; and I rather think she reciprocates, or would, if he went about wooing her in the proper manner. She would not say such cruel cutting things to him if she did not–’

We had reached the tent. Emerson swept me up into his arms and carried me inside.

N
EITHER
of us slept well that night. My lecture had obviously made a deep impression on Emerson, in a sense I had not at all anticipated but to which I had no objection.

Even after the time for slumber had arrived, Emerson was unusually restless. He kept starting up at the slightest sound; several times his abrupt departure from the nuptial couch woke me, and I would see him crouched at the entrance to the tent with a heavy stick in his hands.

All the sounds were false alarms – the far-off cries of jackals prowling the desert waste, or the surreptitious movements of small nocturnal animals emerging from their lairs in the relative safety of darkness to seek refreshment and exercise. I myself was not troubled by such noises, which I had long since learned to know and recognize. But I dreamed a great deal, which is not usual with me. The details of the dreams fled as soon as I woke, leaving only a vague sense of something troubling my mind.

Despite his disturbed night Emerson was in an excellent mood the following morning. As he stretched and yawned outside the tent, his stalwart frame stood out in magnificent outline against the first rays of dawn. We had brought a spiritlamp and supplies of food and water, so we were able to make a scanty morning meal. As we waited for the workmen to arrive, Emerson said, ‘You were restless last night, Peabody.’

‘So would you have been had you been wakened hourly, as I was, by someone prowling round the tent.’

‘You talked in your sleep.’

‘Nonsense, Emerson. I never talk in my sleep. It is a sign of mental instability. What did I say?’

‘I could not quite make out the words, Peabody.’

The arrival of the crew put an end to the discussion and I thought no more about it. Ramses was in the van, of course, with Donald close beside him. The young man assured me there had been no trouble during the night. ‘Except,’ he added, scowling at Ramses – who returned the scowl, with interest – ‘I caught this young man halfway up the stairs to the roof shortly after midnight. He refused to tell me where he was going.’

‘I could not go out the door because Hassan was on guard there,’ Ramses said – as if this were an acceptable excuse for his attempt to creep out of the house.

‘Never mind,’ I said, sighing. ‘Ramses, in case I neglected to mention it, I forbid you to leave the house at night.’

‘Is that a wholesale prohibition, Mama? For instance, should the house catch fire, or be invaded by burglars, or should the roof of my room appear in imminent danger of falling–’

‘Obviously you must use your discretion in such cases,’ said Emerson.

I abandoned the lecture. Ramses could always find a way to do what he wanted, if he had to burn the house down in order to justify it.

‘Where is Enid?’ I asked.

Then I saw her standing some distance away, her back turned. ‘She wanted to stay at the house,’ Donald said. ‘But I insisted she come with us.’

‘Quite right. She must not be left alone for an instant.’

‘Besides, I need every pair of hands,’ Emerson announced. ‘Listen to me, all of you. I intend to work without interruption this day. If all the powers of hell were to choose this spot on which to wage the final battle of Armageddon, I would not be distracted. If one of you feels a mortal illness come over him, pray go off and die at a distance. Come along, Ramses. You too, Fraser.’

And he marched off, shouting for Abdullah.

‘Well!’ I said to Enid, who had approached me. ‘He is in a temper today! We had better humour him, my dear. I have a great treat for you – we are going to explore the interior of the pyramid!’

Instead of mirroring the enthusiasm I expected, the girl’s face lengthened. ‘But Ramses said–’

‘My dear girl I hope you are not suggesting that a mere infant has my expertise in archaeology? There may be many important signs Ramses has missed.’

I set the men to work clearing away the debris and enlarging the entrance. A closer examination of the ceiling of the descending passageway convinced me there was no danger of further collapse except in the section immediately adjoining the one that had already fallen. A few stout timbers were arranged to brace this; the fallen stones were removed; and I allowed myself the pleasure of being the first to penetrate the interior. We disturbed the usual number of bats, and the advent of these harmless creatures, squeaking and flapping, had a deleterious effect on Enid’s nerves. She absolutely refused to accompany me any farther, so I went on alone.

At the end of a series of passages and corridors was a small chamber some seven and a half feet square, with a fine corbelled roof. It was entirely empty. A brief search through the debris on the floor disclosed nothing of interest, and, leaving Selim to sift through the dust to make sure nothing had been overlooked, I returned to the open air, heroically concealing my disappointment.

I found Enid outside, perched on one of the blocks on the side of the pyramid. Chin on her hands, the breeze ruffling her hair, she watched the others gather for the midmorning break. I indicated I was ready to join them, and as we scrambled down the steplike stones I remarked, ‘It won’t do, you know. You cannot go on forever treating him like a leper.’

‘I can and will,’ Enid said hotly. ‘Unless he comes to his senses and confesses the truth.’

‘He has already confessed to such a staggering variety of sins, I can’t imagine what he could be concealing,’ I remarked. ‘Unless you believe he is the killer.’

‘You misunderstand me.’ We reached the ground and she turned to face me. ‘It was Ronald,’ she blurted. ‘Not Donald at all. He took the blame for Ronald’s fault, as he has always done.’

‘Losing his commission, his honour, and his fortune? Come, Enid, I can’t believe any man (even a man) would be so foolish. Nobility and self-sacrifice are the highest qualities of which humanity is capable, but when carried to excess, they are not so much admirable as idiotic.’

‘I quite agree,’ Enid said, with a bitter laugh. ‘But you don’t know Donald. Quixotic is too mild a word for him. Ronald was always his mother’s darling – the younger and smaller and weaker of the two.’

‘The runt of the litter,’ I said musingly.

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘It is a slang expression, and a very pithy one. How often have I seen a mother cherish some pitiful crippled infant, to the neglect of the other children in the family. Weakness brings out the best in us, Enid, and I must say–’

‘Yes, I have no doubt that in the abstract it is a noble quality. But in this case it resulted in terrible harm to both brothers. Ronald was never at fault, he was never punished. Instead of resenting this unfair treatment, Donald tried to win his mother’s approval by appointing himself Ronald’s defender and whipping boy. When Ronald did something wrong, he blamed Donald, and Donald took the beating. When Ronald taunted a hulking bully, Donald did the fighting. Their mother’s last words to Donald were, “Always love and protect your brother.” And he has done exactly that.’

‘In childhood, perhaps. But how can you be certain Donald took the blame for his brother this time? A beating is one thing; to admit responsibility for a debt one has not incurred–’

‘It would not be the first time,’ Enid said. ‘Donald has paid a number of Ronald’s debts in the past. This time the situation was more serious. Ronald would have been publicly disgraced and perhaps sent to prison if the gentleman whose signature had been forged had decided to press the matter. He was willing to let Donald off more lightly because of the respect and affection felt for Donald by all who know him – a consideration that would assuredly not have been extended to Ronald. For that reason Donald agreed to take the blame on himself. I am as certain of that fact as I am that we are standing here, but I cannot prove it. The only ones who know the truth are the brothers themselves. Ronald won’t betray himself, and if Donald is determined to play the martyr … That was why I had to come to Egypt. Ronald had already set out, ostensibly to find Donald and bring him home. I knew he would not press the search, and of course I was right. When I reached Cairo I learned the Ronald had gone off on some pleasure trip. It was up to me to locate Donald and beg him – threaten him–’