The Last Camel Died at Noon - Elizabeth Peters [156]
The cramp had subsided; she lay limp and sweating in my grasp. “Yes, I drank it. It was powerful magic, you said many spells over it. Ooooh! Now I am ugly, and I die… but first I will kill you!”
I struck her hand aside. “Stupid girl! You took too much. That is why your face has swelled and broken. The gods have punished you for stealing my magic potion.”
“What was in the stuff?” Emerson asked anxiously. “Really, Peabody, if it was dangerous you shouldn’t have left it lying about.”
This from a man who had just driven a spear through a living body, on behalf of a woman who had betrayed her brother to torture and death and who was probably capable of doing the same to us. Sometimes I do not understand the male sex.
“She has rid herself of most of it,” I said, with a look of disgust at the mess on the floor. “I don’t think she is in danger of dying. To be on the safe side, I will give her a stiff dose of ipecacuanha. Hold her head, Emerson—but first get that bowl.”
Amenit let out a piercing shriek. I thought another cramp had gripped her until I saw Reggie in the doorway. “Don’t let him see!” Amenit howled, rolling herself into a ball. “Tell him to go away.”
“What is wrong?” Reggie asked. “I heard screams—”
“She has drunk some—some beauty preparation of mine,” I replied. “It was not meant to be taken internally.”
When the litter I had requested finally arrived, it was accompanied by one of the swaddled maidens. I hoped she had come to attend her stricken sister, but her examination was cursory in the extreme, and after directing the litter bearers to carry Amenit away, she remained, taking over the duties the latter had performed. While she was supervising the servants in cleaning my sleeping chamber, I drew Emerson aside.
“It is not Mentarit!”
“How can you tell?”
“I have my methods. Oh, dear, this is most distressing. Dare I ask about Mentarit, do you think?”
“I don’t see that it can do any harm,” Emerson replied. “Certainly not to us, and if Mentarit is already under suspicion a casual inquiry cannot worsen her situation. See here, Peabody, you didn’t leave any other noxious substances lying around, did you? We don’t want another of the girls to be taken ill.”
“Speak for yourself, Emerson. If I knew for certain this young woman was not one of the few damsels loyal to Nefret, I would pour every noxious substance I possessed into her and feel not a single qualm. As for Amenit, you can spare her your concern. Her pulse was strong and steady, and her alimentary distress was subsiding. Naturally I cleared away the incriminating evidence while we were waiting for the litter, but I had better supervise the supervisor, to make certain she doesn’t pry into my belongings.”
I found Reggie in my room, looking curiously at the bowls and jars set out on the chest I used as a toilet table. “What was it she took, Mrs. Amelia? I had no idea you sweet innocent ladies used such dangerous substances.”
“Any substance is dangerous if taken in excessive quantities or in the wrong way, Reggie.”
Reggie picked up one of the bowls and sniffed it—a futile exercise, for I had carefully rinsed it out. “She will be all right, won’t she? I never saw such a face in my life!”
“It was only a rash; it will fade. You seem less concerned with her health than with her appearance, Reggie. I hope your promises to her were sincere. I would not like to think you a vile deceiver of women, like so many of your sex.”
Reggie put the bowl down and gazed earnestly at me. “Few men would scruple to take advantage of a woman to win freedom for himself and his friends, or think it wrong to do so. As for me—I love, I worship, I adore that dear girl. Never will I leave her!”
“We had better continue this discussion elsewhere,” I said, with a significant nod at the handmaiden.
“Oh.” Reggie looked startled. “Do you think she—”
“I think we should leave the girl to get on with her work.”
We retired to the sitting room, finding it unoccupied except by