The Golden One (2 page)

Well, but no proud mother could have asked for a better son than mine. Ramses had been named for his Uncle Walter, but everyone called him by the nickname given him by his father in infancy. He
was as handsome and intellectually gifted as his father, idealistic, kind, and courageous . . . A little too courageous, perhaps? He had been one of the most infuriating children I have ever had
the misfortune to encounter, and his reckless disregard for danger, when he believed the cause he supported to be morally right, was one trait that I had been unable to eradicate. The most
terrifying of his adventures had occurred during the winter of 1914–15, when he had taken on a secret assignment for the War Office. He and his best friend, David, had completed their mission
successfully, but both had been seriously injured, and Ramses’s true identity had been exposed to agents of the Central Powers. I had hoped his marriage would sober him, but although he was
as passionately attached to his beautiful wife as Emerson was to my humble self, Nefret had not been the calming influence for which I had hoped. She would have thrown herself in front of a
charging lion if Ramses were its destined prey, but what I wanted was someone who would prevent him from provoking lions in the first place.

Nefret had been our ward, dear as a daughter, before she married our son. As a firm believer in the equality of the female gender, I could only approve the determination with which she had
achieved against considerable odds her goal of qualifying as a surgeon. As a person of high moral principles I could only commend her for spending part of her large fortune in establishing in Cairo
a hospital for women that served even the lowest and most despised members of that sex. If only she would consent to settle down – devote her ardent energies to medicine and to archaeology,
and to Ramses – and perhaps . . .

The boat gave a great lurch and I dropped the earring I was endeavouring to insert. With a muttered ‘Curse it’ I lowered myself to hands and knees and began feeling about on the
floor – without, I hardly need say, losing the track of my mental musing.

Honesty compels me to admit that the propensity of my son and daughter to become engaged with individuals who desired to wreak grave bodily harm upon them was not entirely their fault. Emerson
and I tended to attract such individuals too. Over the years we had dealt – effectively, I hardly need add – with murderers, forgers, tomb robbers, and criminals of various sorts.
Several of them had been related to us.

As I crawled under the dressing table in pursuit of the elusive earring, I remembered something Emerson had said about my side of the family, to the effect that not one of them had any redeeming
qualities whatever. This was rude, but undeniably correct. One of my nephews had been – I am happy to employ the past tense – a thoroughly repellent human being. Sennia, his little
daughter by a Cairo prostitute, who had been callously abandoned by her father, was now part of our family.

The boat bounced again and the top of my head came into painful contact with the underside of the dressing table. Since I was alone, with no one to overhear, I permitted myself a few expletives.
I do not approve of bad language, but everybody else in the family employs it freely. It is Emerson’s fault. He cannot or will not restrain himself and of course the children emulate him.
There are times when Nefret’s language . . .

The cursed earring continued to elude me, but I endeavoured, as is my habit, to look on the bright side. Emerson’s kin were exemplary human beings: his brother Walter, a true scholar and
gentle man; Walter’s wife, my close friend Evelyn; and their fine brood of children, in which category I must include the husband of their daughter Lia. David, a talented artist and trained
Egyptologist, and Ramses’s best friend, was the grandson of our dear departed reis Abdullah. We had missed him terribly the year before, in both his professional and personal capacities.

However, there was Emerson’s other brother.

The door burst open and Emerson staggered in. Observing my position, he let out a bellow of alarm, seized me round the waist, and lifted me to my feet – and off them. ‘Did you fall,
sweetheart? The cursed boat is bouncing like a rubber ball. Speak to me, Peabody.’

I was touched by his use of my maiden name, which he employs as a term of approbation and endearment, and by his tender concern, but discomfort compelled me to utter a mild complaint. ‘I
cannot breathe, Emerson, you are squeezing me too tightly.’

‘Oh.’ Emerson removed one arm and caught hold of the doorframe.

‘I dropped an earring,’ I explained, after drawing a long breath. ‘Pray put me down, my dear. I don’t want to lose it, it was one of the pair you gave me last
Christmas.’

‘I will find it.’ Emerson deposited me on the bed and began crawling round the floor. ‘Stay still or you will brain yourself. Ah – here you are, my love.’

The gem winked and sparkled in his big brown hand. As a general rule I do not care for diamonds – an antique scarab or a string of mummy beads is much more to my taste – but Emerson
had selected the stones and designed the settings. Having observed that other women seemed to like diamonds – it had only taken him thirty years to notice this – he had decided I should
have some, too.

‘Why have you got yourself up so formally?’ he demanded. ‘No one will dress for dinner tonight, the sea is too rough.’

‘It is necessary to keep up appearances, especially in times such as these. Have you forgotten the date?’

‘Yes,’ said Emerson, in – I could only suppose – a desperate attempt to forestall my suggestion that he assume evening dress. Emerson dislikes the confinement of tightly
fitting garments, and I would be the first to admit that his impressive form never shows to better advantage than when he is attired in the wrinkled flannels and open-necked shirts he wears on the
dig. I felt obliged to persevere, however.

‘It is December the thirty-first, Emerson. We must toast the New Year and pray that 1917 will bring better hopes.’

‘Bah,’ said Emerson. ‘It is an artificial distinction with no meaning. The only significance of January the first is that we will be one day closer to Alexandria. You are fine
enough for both of us. That gown becomes you, my love. Is it new?’

It was not, and he knew it – at least I think he did – it is difficult to be certain with Emerson, since he remains happily oblivious to things one expects him to notice, and sees
things one hopes he will not.

A glance in the mirror gave me little in the way of confirmation of his compliment, for my image was distorted by movement and shadow. However, I know my own appearance well enough – a
form perhaps slightly more rounded than in the distant past, a rather too prominent chin, eyes of steely grey, and black hair that is long and thick but not sleekly shining, despite the hundred
strokes of a brush it receives each evening. (In the pages of my private journal I will confess that its colour owes a little something to art rather than to nature. Emerson is unaware of this
small deception and I have seen no reason to enlighten him.) In short, beautiful I am not – except in the eyes of my husband.

Softened by this touching thought, I smiled affectionately at him. ‘No, Emerson, you would be the only person not in evening dress. On this occasion especially it is necessary to display a
stiff upper lip and – ’

‘Damnation!’ Emerson shouted.

With my assistance and a good deal of grumbling, he did as he was told. He then offered me his arm, and the remnants of his ill humour vanished as I clung tightly to it. Emerson likes me to
cling to him. I do not do it often, but I doubt I could have kept my footing that night without his support.

We had not seen much of our fellow passengers, of whom there were far fewer than in the happy past. The inclement weather had kept most persons in their bunks. Thanks to the judicious
application of whisky and soda, which is, among other things, an excellent remedy for mal de mer, we had been unaffected, but there was little pleasure in walking the deck in a howling gale.

More people than usual were at dinner that evening. The celebration of the New Year was no doubt the occasion, but few of them looked as if they were in a mood to celebrate. The tightly
curtained windows of the dining saloon were a silent reminder of war, and the ship kept rolling about in a disconcerting fashion. Perhaps, I thought hopefully, submarines do not sail in bad
weather. I must remember to ask someone.

The others were already at our table; as we wove a somewhat erratic path towards them, Ramses rose, balancing lightly with a hand on the back of his chair. I was pleased to see that he was
properly attired in black tie and that Nefret looked particularly lovely in the soft shade of blue that matched her eyes and set off her red-gold hair. The fifth member of the party was tightly
wedged between them, in order to prevent her from flying off her chair. Sennia should have been in her cabin with Basima, her nurserymaid, for the hour was late for a seven-year-old, but Basima did
not feel well, and Sennia had wanted to be with Ramses on this special occasion – and she had got her own way, as she often did.

It was not surprising that many people believed my nephew’s child to be Ramses’s illegitimate daughter, for she had my dark grey eyes and his colouring. Ramses had always looked more
like an Egyptian than an English person: wavy black hair, black eyes and thick lashes, skin several shades darker than is common in our island. (I cannot explain this, and I see no reason why I
should be obliged to do so.) His looks are very pleasing, and I assure the reader that his fond mother has not been the only female to think so.

He seated himself somewhat hastily and caught Sennia as she slipped sideways. She let out a high-pitched laugh, which sounded very loud in the subdued air of the saloon. Several persons looked
and smiled; several others frowned disapprovingly; but that peal of childish laughter had unquestionably relieved some of the tension that filled the room.

‘Enjoying this, Little Bird?’ Emerson inquired fondly.

‘Oh, yes, it’s great fun bouncing up and down. And if I spill soup in my lap Aunt Amelia cannot say it is my fault.’ She gave me a cheeky grin, and I smiled back at her, glad
she was too young to share the uneasiness that affected the rest of us. We had thought long and hard about exposing her to the perils of the voyage instead of leaving her in the tender care of
Walter and Evelyn; but Sennia had not thought about it at all, she had simply assumed she would come along, and any attempt to prevent her would have led to consequences that were loud and
unpleasant. Emerson could not bear to see her cry, and the little witch knew it. She had come into our lives under circumstances that were painful to recall even now, but what a joy she was to us
all! She was quite like a grandchild . . . the only one . . . thus far . . .

Nefret caught me staring at her and the colour in her face deepened. ‘Yes, Mother?’ she inquired. ‘Is there a smudge on my nose?’

‘Why, no, my dear. I was just thinking how that shade of blue becomes you.’

The subject was one into which no person of sensibility could properly probe, and I felt certain I would be the first to be informed.

After Ramses, of course.

A great deal of soup was spilled, and not only by Sennia. Most of the diners stuck it out until the end, however, and after Sennia had finished the light meal which was all I allowed her, she
began to fidget and look round. How she had got to know so many of the other passengers I could not imagine, since we had never let her out of our sight, but her waves and smiles were acknowledged
by several persons. One was a tall grey-haired gentleman whom I had seen once or twice on deck; his forbidding face broke into a smile and he waved back. Sennia received an even more energetic
response from a man seated at the captain’s table. He had a round face, as red and wrinkled as a well-preserved winter apple, and he bobbed up and down in his chair, waving, until the young
man next to him put a restraining hand on his arm. He was as stiff as the older man – his father? – was friendly. Eyeglasses gave him a scholarly look, but he was dressed with foppish
elegance, every hair in place.

‘Who are they?’ I asked Sennia.

‘They are Americans. Can I have an ice?’

‘May I have an ice. Yes, you may.’

‘Is the lady his wife?’ Nefret asked. ‘Goodness, look at that frock,
and
the diamonds,
and
the rubies.’

‘Vulgarly large,’ I said with a sniff.

‘I think they are very beautiful,’ said Miss Sennia. ‘She let me look at them one day – it was in the saloon – but only because Mr Albion told her to. She is not as
nice as he is, and their son is not nice at all.’ She took firm hold of the bowl and dug her spoon into the pink mound. ‘Mr Albion wanted to meet you, but I told him you did not meet
people.’

‘Good girl,’ said Emerson approvingly.

Between bites Sennia told us about the grey-haired gentleman, who was going out to join a firm in Alexandria, and about several of the other passengers. The storm began to subside, the howls of
the wind were not so loud, the motion not quite so violent; but I believe we were all relieved when the attendants came round with champagne and the captain rose to propose a toast. It was somewhat
long-winded. I remember only the end.

‘To the health of His gracious Majesty and to victory in 1917!’

Somehow I was not surprised to hear a familiar voice amend the statement. ‘To peace,’ said Ramses. We
drank to that.

As it turned out, we reached Alexandria without being torpedoed, and were met by Selim and Daoud. Selim had replaced his father Abdullah as our reis, or foreman; he and his
Uncle Daoud, like Abdullah’s other relations, were as close as family, and valued assistants in all our endeavours. They assisted us in resuscitating poor Basima and Gargery, our butler, who
had suffered horribly from seasickness the entire time, and Sennia’s cat, who had not been seasick but whose normally bad temper was even more strained by long confinement in a room that was
in constant motion. It would have been impossible to leave the nasty beast behind because Sennia, and, to a lesser degree, Nefret, were the only persons who could control him. Horus was the only
cat with us that year. Seshat, Ramses’s erstwhile companion and guardian, had given up a professional career for domesticity. Perhaps she felt she could now trust Nefret to look after
him.