Read Online Lord of the Silent: A Novel of Suspense by Elizabeth Peters - Free Book Online Page B

exposing a scanty beard and narrow jaw. He held up his hands. They were empty. He raised them to his face and began to cry.
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    In the old days I had been in the habit of giving a little dinner party soon after our arrival in Egypt, to greet friends and catch up on the news. I had not the heart for it that year. Many of our friends were gone, into a better world or into retirement; many of the younger generation had gone to war; and for the first time in many seasons our closest friends, Cyrus and Katherine Vandergelt, were not in Egypt. Cyrus was American and too old for military service in any case (though I would not have cared to be the one who told him so), but Katherine was English by birth and her son Bertie had been one of the first to volunteer. After several minor injuries which had not prevented him from returning to the front, he had been wounded in the leg, arm, chest, and head by an exploding shell and was making a slow but steady recovery, nursed by his mother and sister and supplied by Cyrus with every comfort money could buy. The war was over for him, thank heaven, but at what a cost! Indeed, a celebration would have been inappropriate. However, I felt it my duty to reestablish relations with various acquaintances who were still in the city. The phrase "idle gossip," which Emerson employed, was just one of his little jokes. It is necessary to know what is going on. I had been out of touch for many months; nowhere was the press controlled as tightly as it was in Egypt, and even letters from friends were reduced to illegibility by zealous censors. I had asked Nefret if she and Ramses would like to join us, but I was not surprised when she politely declined. So we went alone to Cairo, my dear Emerson and I. As I said to him, we were company enough for one another. Except for the predominance of khaki, the dining salon of Shepheard's was much the same. Fine wines and rich food, snowy damask and sparkling crystal, dark-skinned servants darting to and fro, male civilians in the stark black and white of evening kit, females flaunting jewels and satin. The display struck a particularly offensive note for me that evening. No one admires a stiff upper lip more than I, but these people were not displaying courage under fire. They were in no danger here. Boys were dying in the mud of France while they sipped their wine and enjoyed the servile attentions of the individuals whose country they had occupied. Having enjoyed this interlude of moral superiority, I decided I might as well take pleasure in the moment, as is my habit. Some of the old familiar faces were there--Janet Helman dressed with her usual elegance and good taste, Mrs. Gorst and her daughter Sylvia, who waved at me with her left hand to make sure I saw the diamond-and-ruby ring on her third finger. Even the plainest girl had no difficulty getting engaged these days, with so many young officers passing through Cairo. A man who expects to be facing death in the near future is not overly fastidious. I said as much to Emerson, who gave me one of those superior masculine looks that reprimanded me for malicious gossip even as his well-shaped lips parted in a grin. He had never liked Sylvia, who had been one of Ramses's most tireless pursuers until his marriage, and who could have taken a prize for gossip. I did not really expect to see any of our archaeological acquaintances, so you may conceive of my surprise and pleasure when I beheld a familiar form standing in the doorway of the dining salon. Howard Carter's face was fuller and his mustache bushier, but otherwise he had not changed much since we had first met him. At that moment he resembled a statue of stupefaction, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar. Not until the headwaiter glided up and addressed him did he give himself a little shake. He questioned the waiter, who nodded and led Howard to our table. "Why, Howard," I exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" "Looking for you. I heard this afternoon that you were