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in djellabahs and turbans assisted by barelegged boys.
    Steve made his requirements known to one of these gentlemen, who salaamed profoundly and assisted Noelle on to one of the humped backs. She was thankful she was wearing trousers, though she hadn't foreseen this exercise. He prodded the beast she bestrode, who staggered to its feet with grumbling protests. Steve was mounted behind her and they were off, plodding up the road, the camels' big splayed feet, designed for travelling on sand, making squelching sounds on the tarmac. Their guides ran beside them uttering encouraging noises. The road curved uphill and ended in level sand between the Pyramids. Here her camel knelt and amid grunts and protests allowed her to dismount. Steve was laughing as he settled with the owner.
    'They may be the ship of the desert, but they wouldn't be my favourite form of transport,' he said to her.
    'Oh, but it was fun,' Noelle declared, her eyes shining. They turned to look at the great edifices on either side of them, but their majesty was impaired by the invasion of tourists, coaches, shanty shacks and the horde of Arab salesmen peddling souvenirs. Their taxi had followed them, and they drove the short distance down to the Sphinx. Noelle had imagined this great monument would rise in solitary splendour from the desert sand, but it was surrounded by ruined mastabas, the tombs of members of the king's court, some of which were still being excavated. The Pyramids behind it seemed to shut it in and over to the east Cairo was throwing out tentacles which soon would reach to Giza. Added to which, the Sphinx has been badly battered by the passing of the centuries. Steve told her Giza must have been a necropolis and the Sphinx was probably erected as a sort of guardian to protect the spirits of the dead. Sensitive to atmosphere, Noelle drew nearer to Steve, slipping her hand on to his arm, desiring the reassurance of his vitality. He was so splendidly alive in this mausoleum. He looked down at her in surprise; it was the first time she had ever deliberately sought contact with him.
    'Something scared you?'
    'It's a little creepy, talking about the dead. But I'm very glad to have seen the Pyramids.' She looked up at the great cones piercing the blue sky, and her eyes filled with tears. She had so wanted to see them with Hugh, and he was gone.
    Steve with his uncanny perception guessed her thought, and said curtly:
    'You would have preferred more congenial company.'
    'Oh no, you mustn't say that,' she protested quickly. 'I'm very grateful…'
    'I don't want gratitude,' he cut in harshly, pressing her arm against his side, as if to assert his possession of her. 'We'll see if we can get some lunch at Mena House.' He piloted her back towards the waiting taxi, remarking: 'Weird idea to spend so much of one's lifetime preparing one's tomb—rather macabre.'
    'They were built by the earlier kings, weren't they?'
    'Yes. Chephren or Khufu built the great one, in the fourth dynasty, over two thousand years before Christ. Later on it was realised such tombs were too conspicuous, and they gave them up in favour of rock tombs, which they tried quite unsuccessfully to conceal in the hope of foiling grave robbers. You'll see them in the Valley of the Kings.'
    She was surprised at his knowledge. Egyptology was a far cry from his business enterprises, and again guessing her thought, he told her:
    'Though I came up the hard way, I found time to acquire some culture.'
    'I think you're marvellous,' she said sincerely.
    Steve gave her a veiled look. 'So long as I keep my distance, eh?'
    'You're not distant now.' She liked the feel of his hard muscles beneath her hand, and she was feeling more in accord with him that at any time during their association. The Arab headdress became him, and he would not make a bad model for a Pharaoh, she thought, with his straight nose and imperious air, though his mouth was too thin-lipped for an Egyptian.
    But if I advance too far you'd