The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog - Elizabeth Peters [94]
“You need not remind me, since I was the first to observe the results of his questioning,” I snapped. “But may I remind you that you have not seen fit to confide the details to me or to Cyrus. What the devil did he ask you?”
“My state of mind was a trifle confused,” said Emerson, with one of those infuriating volte-faces men employ to avoid a direct answer. “The details elude me.”
“Oh, really!” I exclaimed. “Now see here, Emerson—”
“Don’t waste your time, my dear,” said Cyrus, as Emerson grinned at me in a particularly trying fashion. “Can we get back to the question of the tombs in the royal wadi? I take it that is your real goal this season. So what’s the point of messing around with that brickwork in the hollow?”
Emerson opened his eyes very wide. “Why, I intend to do both, of course. And copy the boundary stelae. We’ll start in the hollow, as I said.” He rose, stretching like a great cat. “I must change for dinner. I trust, MISS Peabody, that you intend to do the same; that garment seems more suitable to the boudoir than the dinner table. The proprieties must be observed, you know.”
After he had gone, Cyrus and I stared silently at one another. His craggy face was soft with the sympathy he dared not express aloud, and since I felt no desire for sympathy I did not invite him to express it.
“Curse the man,” I said pleasantly.
“You know what he is up to, I suppose.”
“Oh, yes. Emerson’s mind is an open book to me. His memory may be flawed, but his essential character is unaltered.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“As is my habit whenever possible, I am going to follow the advice set forth in Scripture. ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof’ is, in my opinion, one of the wisest statements in that wonderful Book. I will deal with Emerson’s lunatic scheme when he tries to put it into effect. Who knows what may transpire before that time? And now, if you will excuse me—”
“Are you going to change?” Cyrus asked.
I smiled. “Certainly not.”
I had left our uninvited guest to herself, since she had intimated that she did not find my company desirable. So far as I was aware, she had not emerged from her room. Her meals were carried to her and Cyrus insisted that her door be locked at night. That evening I decided that a serious discussion with the young woman could not be postponed any longer. I had hoped Emerson would want to question her, but to the best of my knowledge he had not done so. His intent was clear to me now. I had suspected from the moment he expressed it that his proclaimed intention of ignoring Vincey unless the latter again attempted to interfere with him was a flat-out lie. “If he turns up, I’ll settle the fellow,” indeed! He expected Vincey would “turn up”; he fully intended to “settle the fellow,” and in order to hasten the confrontation he meant to leave the safety of the dahabeeyah and station himself somewhere in the desert, like a tethered goat staked out as a lure for a tiger, in the hope Vincey would initiate another assault. It was also clear to me that Emerson was still skeptical about the Lost Oasis. (I had to admit I would have doubted the story myself if I had not actually been there.) Hence his references to hidden tombs and Nefertiti’s treasures. He would employ any means possible to intrigue an enemy and encourage him to attack. He meant to go his solitary, stubborn way without consulting the rest of us or taking us into his confidence. It left me with no choice but to do the same; and since I was cognizant of facts Emerson did not know and would not have admitted if he had, the burden was as usual on my shoulders.
Bertha was sitting by the open window. The cool night breeze stirred the muslin curtains. A single lamp burned by the bed. In its light I saw that she was wearing one of the robes I had purchased at a village bazaar. It was black—only young unmarried girls wore colors—but unlike her original garment it was clean and unworn. She looked like a giant crow huddling against an approaching storm, and as she turned toward me I saw her lower her hand from her face.