Read Online The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters - Free Book Online

gasped, as soon as her laughter was under control. Her loosened hair blew around her face until she captured and hid it under a close-fitting bonnet.
    Upon occasion—egged on by Nefret—Ramses had got the Daimler up to fifty miles per hour. Such speed was unachievable in the crowded city streets, but still the traffic noises made conversation impossible until they stopped for tea in a village on the outskirts of the city. Nefret made both of them try on the mask—to the amusement of the other customers—and then they got down to business. It was the first chance they had had for a private conference since the previous day.
    “The situation has become serious,” Nefret announced.
    “Good Gad,” said Ramses. “Do you really think so?”
    “Ramses,” David murmured.
    “Oh, I don’t mind him,” Nefret said. “He’s just trying to be frightfully, frightfully blasé. You were wrong, weren’t you, dear boy? Sethos may not have known Aunt Amelia would be at the meeting, but we have not seen the last of him. He’s after her again!”
    She bit into a scone.
    “It would appear that that is the case,” Ramses admitted. “What I fail to understand is what prompted this renewed interest. It’s been years since we heard from or about him. Unless . . .”
    “Unless what?” David asked intently.
    “Unless she has heard from him in the meantime. She wouldn’t be likely to tell us about it.”
    “She never tells us anything,” Nefret said indignantly.
    “Why don’t you ask her?”
    “Why don’t you? It’s those eyes of hers,” Nefret muttered theatrically, rolling her own. “That stormy gray shade is alarming even when she’s in a pleasant mood, and when she’s angry they look like—like polished steel balls.” She gave an exaggerated shudder.
    “It isn’t funny,” David said.
    “No,” Nefret agreed. “You didn’t see the poor darling last night; she was covered with bruises. If the Professor gets his hands on Sethos he’ll tear him to pieces, and I wouldn’t mind joining in.”
    “Father has taken the necessary precautions,” Ramses said. “Getting her out of London and away from England as soon as is possible.”
    “That’s not enough,” Nefret declared. “What if he follows her to Egypt?”
    “He isn’t likely to.”
    “So you say. What if he does? We need to know how to protect her! If she won’t give us the necessary information, we must ferret it out! Well, Ramses?”
    Ramses smiled ruefully. “Confound it, Nefret, I do wish you wouldn’t read my mind. It’s nothing to do with Sethos. I was thinking of something else. Did you know Mother once made a list of all the people who held a grudge against her and Father? There were fifteen names on it, and that was several years ago.”
    “Fifteen people who have wanted to murder her?” Nefret grinned. “How typical of her to make a neat, methodical list! Did she show it to you?”
    “Not exactly.”
    Nefret chuckled. “Good for you, Ramses. I know, it’s not nice to pry, but what other choice have we? Who were these people?”
    Ramses prided himself on his memory, which he had cultivated (along with less acceptable skills) by hours of practice. He reeled off a list of names.
    His companions followed him intently. They had not been with the Emersons during their earlier years in Egypt, but both of them knew the stories. “The Adventures of Aunt Amelia,” as Nefret called them, had filled in many an idle hour.
    “The majority of them are old enemies,” David remarked, when Ramses had finished. “And some, surely, are out of the picture. Are you suggesting that it wasn’t Sethos, but another former adversary, who attacked her yesterday?”
    “No. I’m only considering all the possibilities. Most are, in fact, dead or in prison.” Ramses added with a smile, “Mother made notes.”
    “What about the woman who kidnapped me during the hippopotamus affair?” * Nefret asked.
    “We never knew her name, did we? Another of