The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog - Elizabeth Peters [28]
“It is still early in the season,” he reminded me. “And we have not had the leisure to play tourist for several years. I would like to have a look at the tomb Loret found last year. He has left some of the mummies there, bloody fool that he is.”
“Language, Emerson,” I said automatically. “It would be nice to see the dear old Valley of the Kings again. What do you say we start with Meidum, since we are in the neighborhood?”
“Hardly in the neighborhood. Admit it, Peabody; you favor Meidum because there is a pyramid.”
“We must start somewhere. After Meidum we could—”
A knock at the door interrupted me. The safragi entered, carrying a bouquet of flowers. I had already received several floral offerings from our guests of the previous evening; M. Maspero’s was the largest and most extravagant. All the vases were in use, so I sent the servant out to find another while I admired the pretty arrangement of roses and mimosa.
“No red roses?” Emerson inquired with a smile. “I don’t allow you to accept red roses from gentlemen, Peabody.”
In the language of flowers, red roses signify passionate love. It was reassuring to hear him speak jestingly of a subject that had once driven him into a jealous rage. So I told myself, at any rate.
“They are white,” I replied rather shortly. “I wonder who… Ah, here is a card. Mr. Vincey! A gentlemanly gesture, upon my word. I hardly had a chance to speak to him. By the by, Emerson, I have been meaning to ask you—what was the disgraceful business you referred to?”
“The Nimrud treasure. You must have read of it.”
“I do remember seeing newspaper accounts, but that was some years ago, before I took a personal interest in archaeology. The cache was a rich one—gold and silver vessels, jewelry and the like; it was sold, as I recall, to the Metropolitan Museum.”
“Correct. What the newspapers did not report, because they are well aware of the laws of libel, was that Vincey was suspected of being the agent through whom the museum acquired the collection. He was excavating at Nimrud for Schamburg, the German millionaire.”
“You mean he found the gold and did not report the discovery to his patron or the local authorities? How shocking!”
“Shocking indeed, but not necessarily illegal. The laws regarding the disposition of antiquities and the ownership of buried treasure were even more undefined then than they are today. In any case, nothing could be proved. If Vincey did peddle the loot to the Metropolitan, he did it through an intermediary, and the museum was no more anxious than he to explain the transaction.”
I could see that Emerson was beginning to get restless. He tapped out his pipe, shuffled his feet, and reached again for the map. Nevertheless I persisted.
“Then that is why I am not familiar with Mr. Vincey’s archaeological career. The mere suspicion of such dishonesty—”
“Ended that career,” Emerson finished. “No one would employ him again. It was a promising career, too. He began in Egyptology—did good work at Kom Ombo and Denderah. There was some talk… But why are we sitting here gossiping like a pair of old ladies? Get dressed and let us go out.”
He rose, stretching. The movement displayed his form to best advantage: the breadth of his chest and shoulders, the lean, sinewy shape of the lower portion of his frame. I suspected he had done it to distract me, for Emerson is well aware of my appreciation of the aesthetic qualities of his person. I persisted, however, inquiring, “Were you, by any chance, the one who brought his malfeasance to light?”
“I? Certainly not. In fact, I came to his defense, pointing out that other excavators, including certain officials of the British Museum, were equally unscrupulous in their methods of obtaining antiquities.”
“Why, Emerson, what a specious argument! I am surprised at you.”
“The treasure was better off at the Metropolitan than in some private collection.”
“An even less tenable argument.”
Emerson started for the bedroom. It was his little way of indicating he did not care to discuss the subject further. I had, however, one more