Children of the Storm - Elizabeth Peters [152]
“No one is going to cry,” I said, with a stern look at Maryam, who looked as if she was about to. “I am well aware that your anger was caused by your affection for David, but it is somewhat alarming to those who are unaccustomed to the outbursts of temper that characterize the men of the family.”
“Quite,” said Ramses, still resentful of Sethos’s criticism of his friend. “It would be more helpful if you tried to ascertain what started the trouble. You claim to have connections in the highest levels of intelligence. Don’t they have informants in the radical movement?”
“Unfortunately we lost our best agents when you and David retired,” Sethos said. “Are you suggesting that this disturbance was instigated by outside agitators?”
The compliment was wasted on Ramses. He was not proud of his expertise in deception. “I am telling you that it was. I saw several strangers in the crowd. I thought I recognized one of them—the man who threw the stone. David?”
“I didn’t get a good look at him,” David admitted. “But I suppose it might have been . . . You mean that fellow François, the boy’s bodyguard? But he—”
“He’s a Parisian apache,” Ramses interrupted. “At least he fights like one. What do you know about him, Maryam?”
She shrank back, her hands fluttering at the throat of her dress. “Nothing. Honestly. He was with the party when I joined them. No one ever told me where he came from. I—I’m afraid of him. I have always been.”
“Did he ever—er—bother you?” Emerson asked fiercely.
“Oh, no, nothing like that.” His chivalrous indignation on her behalf produced a smile. “I can’t believe he would be involved in any cause, he’s not that sort of man. Justin is his cause, if you like; he is fanatically protective. But he does hold grudges. Are you sure . . .” She hesitated. “Are you sure he was aiming at David when he threw the stone?”
Her suggestion made a certain amount of sense, which the image of François as a revolutionary did not. If he had been drawn to the scene by curiosity he might well have taken advantage of the opportunity to get back at someone who had injured him—and, even more infuriating to a person of his temperament, defeated him. Ramses admitted he had simply assumed the missile was aimed at David.
“This is unacceptable,” I declared. “I would rather have nothing to do with any of them, but if that vicious French person is going around throwing things at people he dislikes, he must be stopped. Good heavens, Emerson, you may be next.”
“That would suit me admirably,” said Emerson, his sapphirine orbs brightening. “I will just pay a little call on the old lady, and if I should happen to run into François—”
“You will do nothing of the sort, Emerson.”
“But, Peabody—”
“I will talk to her, if you like,” Maryam said diffidently. “I have been thinking I ought to call on her and see how Justin is getting on. It is the least I can do, after leaving them without notice.”
“An admirable sentiment,” drawled Sethos. “I will go with you. Perhaps the old lady will allow me to pay my compliments.”
“I doubt she will,” Maryam said.
She went to get her hat and I took Sethos aside. “Why must you jeer at the girl? She is doing her best, and you are not trying at all to be—er—”
“Fatherly,” Sethos supplied, his lips twisting. “I am trying, Amelia, believe it or not.”
“You are afraid to allow yourself to care for her.”
Sethos caught himself on the verge of a shout. He glanced over his shoulder at the others and said through tight lips, “Don’t do that, Amelia. I am sufficiently aware of my motives and feelings. I don’t need you to explain them to me.”
It was probably not a good time to mention the principles of psychology. I contented myself with a forgiving smile, and after a moment he said irritably, “Very well. I will take her to dinner in Luxor, how’s that? I had intended to dine with your friend Mrs. Fisher, who knows every lady in the area, but I will send regrets.”
“That would be very nice,” I said.
Immediately after dinner Emerson went to his study, ostensibly to “set the rest of you a good example” by bringing his excavation