The Ape Who Guards the Balance - Elizabeth Peters [55]
“What makes you think that? She always has followers.” David closed the door of Ramses’s room and settled himself in another chair.
“She met that fellow on the sly, and lied about it. That isn’t like her.”
“Perhaps she’s tired of hearing you ridicule her admirers.”
“Most of the victims have made sufficient fools of themselves without any help from me. Well—not much help.”
“Why don’t you tell her how you feel? I know, by your Western standards you are still too young to think of marriage, but if she agreed to an engagement you would at least be sure of her.”
“Oh, yes,” Ramses said bitterly. “She might just be soft-hearted and soft-headed enough to accept my proposal out of sheer pity, and if once she gave her word she wouldn’t break it. Are you suggesting I take advantage of her kindness and affection, and then ask her to remain true to me for four or five years?”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” David said quietly.
“You aren’t fool enough to fall in love with a girl who doesn’t love you. I will not admit my feelings until she shows some sign of returning them. So far I don’t seem to be making much progress.”
“Someone has to take the first step,” David said sensibly. “Perhaps she would respond if you took the trouble to demonstrate your feelings.”
“How? Nefret would fall over laughing if I turned up with flowers in my hand and flowery speeches on my lips.”
“She probably would,” David agreed. “You don’t seem to have any difficulty making other women fall in love with you. How many of them have you—”
“That is a question no gentleman should ask, much less answer,” Ramses said, in the same repressive tone his mother would have used, but with a faint smile. “I wouldn’t blame Nefret for—er—amusing herself with other men. I’d hate it, but I’m not hypocrite enough to condemn her for it. And I would never stand in her way if she truly cared for a man who was worthy of her.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Only lovers and deadly enemies look directly into one another’s eyes.
Was that one of his mother’s famous aphorisms? It sounded like the sort of thing she would say; and as his eyes met those of his friend in a direct unblinking gaze, Ramses felt a chill run through him. David looked away, clasping his arms around his body as if he too felt suddenly cold.
After a moment Ramses said, “You must be getting frightfully bored with my histrionics.”
“Anything that is important to you is important to me, Ramses. You know that. I only wish I could . . .”
“You look tired. Go to bed, why don’t you?”
“I’m not tired. But if you don’t want to talk any longer—”
“You’ve heard it all before. To the point of tedium, I expect.” He forced a smile. “Good night, David.”
The door closed softly. Ramses sat without moving for a long time. The suspicion that had entered his mind was despicable and baseless. A single meeting of eyes, an altered note in the voice that had responded to his statement: “I would never stand in her way if she cared for someone who was truly worthy of her . . .” David was worthy of her. Not by the false standards of the modern world, perhaps, but Nefret’s formative years had been spent in quite a different world. The strange culture of the oasis had not been free of bigotry and cruelty, but its prejudices were based on caste rather than race or nationality. Nefret didn’t think of David as an inferior. Neither did Ramses. David was—might be—a rival more dangerous than any he had yet encountered. And David, being the sort of man he was, would feel guilty and ashamed at coming between his best friend and the girl his friend wanted.
:
We resumed work the following morning. Others of the English community in Luxor might make a festival of Boxing Day, but I had had a hard enough time persuading Emerson to celebrate Christmas, which he considered a heathen festival. “Why don’t we just wreathe mistletoe around our brows and sacrifice someone to the sun?” he had inquired sarcastically. “That is all it is, you know, the ancient