Crocodile on the Sandbank - Elizabeth Peters [23]
“You had better not,” I interrupted. “The first sign of trouble from you, you rascal, and I’ll have you put in prison. Egyptian prisons are vastly uncomfortable, I am told, and I have a good deal more influence with the present government than you do.”
Alberto drew himself up.
“Now you threaten me,” he said with satisfaction. “No need for threat. If the lady do not want me, I go. I come only for honor. I see now. I understand. There is another! It is true, no? Who is he, this villain who steal my darling’s heart?”
Evelyn, who had born up magnificently, now showed signs of breaking—which was no wonder.
“I can’t stand any more of this,” she whispered. “Amelia, can we not make him go away? Can we call for help?”
“Certainly,” I said.
I passed Alberto—who drew back nervously—and threw open the door. There is usually a floor attendant on duty, and I meant to summon him. But there was no need. Sitting on the floor, across the hall from our door, was our dragoman, Michael. I did not stop to ask why he was there. He leaped to his feet when he saw me, and I beckoned him in.
“Take this man by the collar and throw him out,” I said, gesturing at Alberto.
Michael looked surprised, but he did not hesitate. As he reached out for Alberto, the latter stepped back.
“No need, I go, I go,” he exclaimed. “I leave Egypt. My heart is broke, my life is—”
“Never mind that,” I said. “One question before you go. How did you find us here, and how did you get the money to follow us?”
“But I go to the British consul at Rome, what else? I work way on boat—I am seasick, I am cold, but I work to follow my heart’s—”
“Enough of that. Go, now, or Michael will—”
“I go.” Alberto drew himself up. He rolled his eyes one last time at Evelyn; then Michael took a step forward, and Alberto bolted out the door with more speed than dignity.
“I follow, to be sure he is gone,” said Michael.
“Thank you,” Evelyn said gratefully.”Your little girl, Michael—how is she? Did you want us to come to her again?”
“No,” Michael said. “No, lady. I come to tell you she is better. She wakes up, she asks for food. I come to thank you; to tell you when you want anything from Michael, you ask, even if it is his life. Now I will follow the evil man.”
With a gesture that oddly combined humility and dignity, he departed; and as the door closed, Evelyn broke into a storm of weeping.
The storm was soon over. While I rushed around searching for smelling salts and handkerchiefs, Evelyn recovered herself and insisted that I sit down. She relieved me of my parasol, which I was still holding.
“You are more upset than you will admit,” she said. “Let me order you a glass of wine.”
“No, there is no need. But perhaps you—”
“No.” Evelyn sat down and looked at me steadily. “My predominant emotion, strangely, is one of relief. I feel as if I had exorcised some evil spirit.”
“It was Alberto you saw in the lounge, when you fainted.”
“Yes. You will not believe me, Amelia; but when I saw him standing there, watching me with that insolent sneering smile, I thought him a demon of the mind, conjured up to remind me of my past. I was so happy just then, with—with—”
“With Walter. Why do you shrink from speaking his name? Do you love him?”
“I cannot use that word; not after… . But, yes; I could love him, if I had the right to love any decent man.”
“Oh, come, you are being absurdly melodramatic! We are almost in the twentieth century; abandon your old-fashioned morality.”
“Do you think Walter would ask me to marry him if he knew of my past?”
“Well …” I shrugged uncomfortably. “He seems a nice young man, but he is a man, after all. But why should he ever know”
There was no need for Evelyn to answer. He would know because she would tell him. Candor was an integral part of her nature. She smiled sadly at me.
“Let us change the subject, Amelia. All I meant to say was that I was foolishly relieved to find Alberto mere flesh and blood. We have finished with him now; but how amazing that he should actually follow me here!”
“Yes. I wonder …”
“What?”
“If