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soft and full but mobile: forbiddingly grim at
one moment and adorably bewildered in the next. He watched it change
from bewildered to grim in the instant it took her to recover from
their lovely collision.

    He’d seen it
coming. He’d also seen no reason to prevent it. Quite the
contrary.

    Her grim look did
not trouble him in the least; neither did her telling him he was not
to rechristen her servants.

    “ How would
you like it,” she demanded, “if I were to rename you Omar
or Muhammad?”

    “ A pet name,
do you mean?” he said. “I shouldn’t object.”

    After a visible
struggle to rein in her temper she said, “What you do or do not
object to is not the point. He is an Egyptian boy, not English.”

    “ Tom doesn’t
mind,” Rupert said. “In any event, I couldn’t tell
which part of the earful he gave me was his name.”

    “ He was
probably trying to tell you what happened,” she said. “I
have no idea how you occupied yourself on the voyage toEgyptor during
your stay inAlexandria. It is clear, however, that you employed not a
minute of the time learning the language.”

    She turned sharply
away and started back into the room she’d just exited:Cairo’s
version of a salon or drawing room, with the usual unpronounceable
name.

    “ I thought
you were to do all the brain work, and I was in charge of the
physical side,” he said. “Surely you weren’t
expecting me to interrogate the lad? I had the devil’s own time
getting him to understand I wanted coffee.”

    They entered the
large room. Wadid had left. Leena was there, though. After Tom set
down the coffee service—on top of Mrs. Pembroke’s
precious papers—Leena grabbed the boy by the shoulders, shook
him, then hugged him, talking great guns all the while.

    Once Tom had
recovered from near suffocation against Leena’s ample bosom, he
launched into a very long recital.

    Several tiny cups
of coffee later, Mrs. Pembroke gave Rupert the shorter English
version. Apparently, persons calling themselves police had come,
saying they must search the house. When Akmed heard their voices, he
ran away.

    When the lady came
to this point of her narration, Tom attracted Rupert’s
attention. Saying, “Akmed” and something else, the boy
did a comical imitation of a man limping.

    A green glare from
Mrs. Pembroke brought the performance to a halt.

    Because Akmed ran
away, the widow continued, all the other servants did, too. Tom, who
was cautiously sneaking back into the house when Rupert entered the
cooking area, had ducked into the nearest hiding place.

    Mrs. Pembroke
returned her cup to the tray. “Since it’s obvious we’ll
learn nothing more from the other servants, I see no reason to await
their return,” she said. “The only logical course of
action is to retrace my brother’s footsteps.”

    “ We ought to
check the guardhouses first,” Rupert said, recalling Beechey’s
advice.

    “ Miles is not
in a guardhouse.” She rose abruptly from the divan, all
impatience and rustling silk. “The men who came here were no
more police than I am. And my brother is not in a brothel or an opium
den, so you needn’t get your hopes up about visiting any of
those establishments. We shall talk to those with whom Miles most
recently associated. We shall start with his friend Lord Noxley.”

    “ Garnet,”
Rupert said as she picked up her hat and veil.

    She turned and
looked at him, her expression wary. “I beg your pardon?”

    “ Garnet. If
someone asked me what color your hair was, I’d say, ‘Garnet.’”

    She clamped the hat
onto her head. “Did you hear a single word I said?”

    “ My mind
wandered,” he said. “You’re on the tallish side for
a woman, I think?” Something over five and a half feet, he
estimated.

    “ I do not see
the relevance of my height or hair color,” she said.

    “ That’s
because you’re not a man,” he said.

    Very much not. The
dress seemed designed to play down her assets rather than