The Curse of the Pharaohs - Elizabeth Peters [100]
“Another tragedy!” Lady Baskerville wrung her long white hands, a gesture that displayed their slender beauty. “I can endure no more. Radcliffe, much as I regret the decision, I must bow to fate. The expedition is canceled. I want the tomb closed, today.”
I dropped my spoon. “You can’t do that! Within a week it will be stripped by robbers.”
“What do I care for robbers or tombs?” Lady Baskerville cried. “What are ancient relics compared with human life? Two men have died, one lies near death—”
“Three men,” Emerson said quietly. “Or do you not consider Hassan the watchman a human being? He was not much of a man, to be sure, but if he were the only victim I would still feel obliged to bring his murderer to justice. I intend to do that, Lady Baskerville, and I also intend to finish excavating the tomb.”
Lady Baskerville’s jaw dropped. “You can’t do that, Radcliffe. I hired you and I can—”
“I think not,” Emerson replied. “You begged me to take on the job and told me, if I recall correctly, that his lordship left funds with which to carry on the work. Furthermore, I have Grebaut’s order appointing me archaeologist in charge. Oh, it may involve a long, complex legal battle, when all is said and done, but”—and his eyes sparkled wickedly—“but I enjoy battles, legal or otherwise.”
Lady Baskerville took a deep breath. Her bosom swelled to alarming proportions. Vandergelt leaped to his feet. “Goldurn you, Emerson, don’t you talk to the lady like that.”
“Keep out of this, Vandergelt,” Emerson said. “It is none of your affair.”
“You just bet it is.” Vandergelt moved to Lady Baskerville’s side. “I have asked the lady to be my wife, and she has done me the honor to accept.”
“A bit sudden, is it not?” I inquired, spreading marmalade on another piece of toast (my busy day and night had given me quite an appetite). “With your husband dead less than a month—”
“Naturally we will not announce our engagement until the proper time,” Vandergelt said in shocked tones. “I wouldn’t have told you folks if the situation had not been so perilous. This poor lady needs a protector, and Cyrus Vandergelt, U.S.A., is privileged to take that part. My dear, I think you ought to leave this cursed place and move to the hotel.”
“I will obey your slightest wish, Cyrus,” the lady murmured submissively. “But you must come with me. I cannot flee, leaving you in danger.”
“That’s right, Vandergelt, desert the sinking ship,” Emerson said.
A look of embarrassment spread over the American’s rugged features. “Now you know I’m not about to do that. No, sir; Cyrus Vandergelt is no four-flusher.”
“But Cyrus Vandergelt is a dedicated archaeology buff,” said Emerson mockingly. “Admit it, Vandergelt; you cannot tear yourself away until you know what lies beyond that wall at the end of the passageway. What is it to be, wedded bliss or Egyptology?”
I smiled quietly to myself, seeing the agonized indecision that twisted the American’s features. The hesitation did not flatter his promised bride (though I confess that, faced with a similar dilemma, Emerson might have hesitated too).
Lady Baskerville saw the signs of struggle on her fiancé’s face and was too wise in the ways of the male sex to force him into a reluctant sacrifice. “If that is how you feel, Cyrus, of course you must stay on,” she said. “Forgive me. I was distraught. I am better now.”
She applied a dainty kerchief to her eyes. Vandergelt patter her shoulder distractedly. Then his face brightened.
“I have it! There is no need to make such a choice. At a time like this, convention must yield to necessity. What do you say, my dear girl—will you defy the world and be mine at once? We can be married in Luxor, and I will then have the right to be at your side day and—er—that is, at all times and in all places.”
“Oh, Cyrus,” Lady Baskerville exclaimed. “This is so sudden. I should not… and yet…”
“Congratulations,” I said, seeing that she was about to yield. “I trust you will excuse us if we do not attend the ceremony. I expect to be occupied with a mummy at about that time.”
With a sudden rush Lady Baskerville