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he told her that he had ordered a taxi to take them out to Giza, for naturally she would want to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx before they left.
    'Oh, are we leaving Cairo?' She had left the arranging of their itinerary to him.
    'This evening. I've booked accommodation on a steamer up the Nile, it'll be cooler on the water, and you must see Luxor and Karnak and the Aswan Dam.'
    'That will be lovely.'
    Very deliberately Steve buttered a piece of toast.
    'I've booked separate cabins.'
    'Oh!' Noelle felt the hot colour flood her face, and said faintly. 'Did you… was that necessary?'
    'I think it is.' He raised his head and looked at her severely. 'Perhaps when this trip is over you'll have come to regard me less as an ogre and more as a human being. Until then you'd better sleep alone.'
    Noelle's eyes dropped to her plate, aware of conflicting emotions. Relief mingled with regret, shame that he had found her so inadequate, and a curious sense of flatness that he intended to keep away from her.
    'You… you're very considerate,' she murmured.
    He returned with suppressed passion: 'I won't descend to raping my wife, though I've every right to do so.'
    It was still there, the leashed violence that had scared her. Noelle stirred her coffee with a trembling hand, looking anywhere but into those avid grey eyes that seemed to devour her.
    'Afterwards… it may be different…' she said faintly.
    He smiled cruelly. 'Don't try to force yourself to make it so. You're not indispensable.'
    Her eyes widened in dismay. Did he want to be rid of her already?
    'I… I suppose you have grounds for a divorce…'
    Steve smiled sardonically. 'That comes well from a day-old bride! I assure you, my love, whatever happens there'll be no divorce. What I have I hold.'
    No divorce, but no love either. She remembered the bronze monkey which he had long since ceased to bother to look at. She had been acquired, and though she might wither in neglect and indifference, he would never set her free.
    Steve's face suddenly cleared, all trace of seriousness vanishing, as he said gaily:
    'This is no holiday conversation. Let's be off to see the Pyramids.'
    He sprang to his feet, holding out his hand to her, looking as youthful and carefree as Simon would have done. Gone was the urgent lover, the aloof business executive. His clasp of her fingers was warm and friendly as they went out of the restaurant.
    Before they drove off, Steve insisted upon buying for her one of the white linen hats on sale everywhere for those tourists who had underestimated the heat of the sun. It was not exactly chic, but it did protect her eyes and nape. Steve continued to appear light-hearted, even boyish, and Noelle's spirits rose in response. After all, he had given her a respite, and she might in time come to love him. That seemed possible in his present mood; he had come down to her level offering her an undemanding comradeship which she accepted gladly. The trip up the Nile was going to be fun.
    The taxi deposited them at an enclosure opposite to the Mena House Hotel. Noelle got out, looking about her in surprise. She could see the bulk of the Great Pyramid up ahead of her, but where they stood was a medley of tourists, saddled horses, open carriages and camels. Steve was giving some instructions to the taxi driver.
    'Why are we stopping here?' Noelle demanded.
    Steve turned to her with a broad grin. 'Because, my love, we'll approach these historic edifices with due ceremony on camel-back.'
    'Ride a camel?'
    She wished he would not call her 'my love' with that ironic intonation as if only too well aware it was a misnomer. She wasn't his love; she doubted she ever would be.
    'Just so. Much more appropriate than a motor car.'
    The camels knelt on the sand, eyeing their would-be passengers with the lofty disdain a camel can so well assume. They were saddled with what looked like red Turkey carpeting and were loud in their complaints when ordered to rise. They were attended by Arabs