More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
I’m not going back to Cairo without my brother. I did not come this far only to run away at the first difficulty.”
“Oh,” she said, aware of the blush simmering in her cheeks. “A compliment.” “It’s a simple enough fact.” His voice dropped lower, to a rumble that vibrated deep within her. “When I don’t understand what you’re talking about, I pretend I’m in a picture gallery and you are all the pictures.” She thought she must burst with pleasure. No one, no one had ever said anything like that to her before. It was more than a compliment. It was…it was…poetry, almost. “But it isn’t simply your looks,” he went on, his gaze elsewhere, reflective. “It’s the enthusiasm. The love of what you do. You make it
...more
It was more like an ocean storm, like being caught in a tearing sea of sand. Twice he thought it would rip them out from their crevice to throw them miles into the air, then drop them in so many broken pieces upon the Libyan hills. But if so, it must take them both or none. He would not give her up to man or to force of nature, however great.
He didn’t waste any more breath on reassurances she couldn’t hear over the storm. He only pressed his lips to her head, again and again, hoping she’d understand: he’d take care of her. She would not come to harm so long as he was alive.
For an instant, blinded by the blowing sand, she’d felt alone, abandoned. But it was only for an instant, because in the next he was there. As long as he was by, she could face anything.
“Hermione, get in here,” he snapped. The donkey brayed and pawed at the ground. “Hermione, don’t make me come after you,” he said. “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Daphne said. “This is an Egyptian donkey. Ta’ala heneh,” she called sharply to the agitated animal. “Ta’ala.” The donkey snorted, and tossed its head. “Ta’ala,” Mr. Carsington said. The donkey trotted inside and went directly to him and nuzzled his arm. Naturally.
“What should I do if you were hurt?” he exploded. “What should I do if you were killed? Do you never think of me? No, why should you? I’m merely a great, dumb ox. I have no feelings, so why should you consider them?” “Feelings?” she cried. “What do you know of feelings?” “This,” he said.
She’d taken refuge in the scenes adorning the tomb walls. She’d wondered who the ladies were and what their flowers signified, so there wouldn’t be room in her head for thinking about him and how attached she’d become to him—though she’d known from the very beginning, perhaps from the moment she’d first heard his voice, that he was made to break women’s hearts. She’d worked so hard to keep from being hurt again. Now look what she’d done.
“I am not afraid of a lump of petrified matter,” he said stiffly. “Come here,” she said. “I’m trying to keep Hermione calm,” he said. “She’s calm,” Daphne said. “It’s far enough away not to worry her. Don’t you want to look? It’s very interesting. I’ve never seen an animal mummy before, at least not in one piece…more or less. It’s only a bit dented.” “Hermione is not as calm as she appears,” he said. “We’d better not give her an excuse to bolt. If she runs away—” “You’re afraid,” Daphne said. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “Then come here,” she said. He petted the donkey. “Come here,” Daphne
...more
He retreated a pace. “Of course. Didn’t I tell you I’m easy to manage? A lively bout of lovemaking makes me mere putty in your hands. I vow, I am overflowing with kindness and generosity.” …and with something else, something different from the sense of well-being he usually experienced. There was an ache, a something not quite right and not quite wrong.
His eyes were dark, unreadable. Not that she could have read them easily, even in better light. Rupert Carsington’s eyes were not windows into his soul, as Virgil’s eyes had been. But then, Rupert Carsington seemed to keep very little hidden. His words and actions were plain and direct. His anger, too. He didn’t hide it behind a veneer of gentleness and saintly patience. He spoke his mind…instead of trying to dismantle hers.
“He was a small man,” he said, “else he wouldn’t have tried to cut you down to size.”
She was a woman of experience, yes, but not very much experience and that little not very good. The thought restored his humor. It was like having all the benefits of a virgin without any of the drawbacks, he told himself.
“Which one was Daphne?” he said. She paused in her work. He felt rather than saw her rub her face. “Which one what?” she said. “In the Greek myths. Which one was she?” “The daughter of the river god. She’s the one who turned into a laurel tree to escape Apollo.”
“I was Rupert before,” he complained. “Why am I Mr. Carsington now?
The sandstorm tried to eat them, but the master is powerful, and made the jinn spit them out. But he is angry at this place, because it holds evil men who wish him ill. Let him go away with his hareem, and let none out after him, until the proper time. I beg you to do this thing, before he casts the eye upon you.”
Though the drug made her mind rather foggy, this much was clear: He was not at all the lout she’d first supposed him. Instead, he made other men seem loutish, especially Virgil. Her late husband had made her feel defective, even monstrous at times. He’d left her with a great fortune and very little self-confidence.
“In the front room with the master and the boy Tom,” Nafisah said. “His name is Udail,” Daphne said automatically. “He wishes to be Tom,” Nafisah said. “He says he is the slave of the master and will go with him wherever he goes because the master has saved your life.” “I was not dying,” Daphne said. “You know the ailment isn’t fatal.” “He saved you from the sandstorm as well. I, too, gladly serve such a master, who shows such kindness to his hareem, and waits upon her like a slave.”
“Well, why do you stand there like a stone?” she cried to Tom. “Where is the coffee for your mistress?” “I forget because my heart is so full,” he said. “We are all well now, and safe. This boat is filled with happiness. The baby who was dying laughs and claps her hands. My master who was swallowed by the sandstorm came back to us. He brought back our mistress and made her well again when death tried to take her. He will find our master—our other master—and take him from the foreign devils who carried him into the desert. There are twelve of them, but Yusef and I will fight by his side, and we
...more
“These revelations about Noxious don’t seem to have shocked you.” Her gaze was distant, abstracted. “After what I have discovered about my late husband, I doubt anything more I learn about any man could shock me. This voyage—or mission—or whatever one calls it—has been highly educational. No wonder Miles said I was naïve and unworldly.” “He’s your brother,” Rupert said. “Brothers can take the oddest views of their siblings. Perhaps because I’m not your brother, I see you altogether differently. From the first you struck me as levelheaded and clear-eyed.” “You’ve only known me in unusual
...more
“It’s wonderful,” Rupert said. Her green gaze shot to him. “Your mind,” he said. “The way you collect evidence, sort it out, and come to the logical conclusion. It’s amazing, considering how much you’ve got in there.” She smiled faintly. “It’s the one thing I can do.” “It isn’t all you can do,” Rupert said.
She didn’t need to know what these feelings of his were. She knew they were fleeting, because he was not the sort of man whose interest in any woman could last. She knew she could not trust her heart to his feelings, and that was all she really needed to know.
Miles shook his head. He’d bought it for Daphne. Because it was beautiful, in near-perfect condition. Because she had nothing half so fine in her collection. Because he knew her eyes would light up as they used to do, a long time ago, before she wed Pembroke. Her eyes had lit, and Miles had never seen her happier than when she set to work on it. To him, this made the thing worth ten times what he’d paid.
He held it over her while she gazed raptly at the strange creatures. It was a long time before she spoke. He didn’t need to say anything. It was enough to be near her, to watch her surprise and pleasure transform everything he looked upon. The crocodiles somehow became more exotic and miraculous. With her, one always felt as though one gazed upon marvels.
She remembered how he’d whistled in the darkness of the dungeon, laughing at danger, as though it had been made purposely to amuse him. Now she saw that he’d been driving away her own darkness, day by day. And day by day, she’d changed. Because of him, she’d become more than she’d been—or perhaps more truly herself. Because of him, she’d learnt to like and trust herself again. Because of him, desire had become a pleasure, not a shame.
looking into those eyes, those dark, laughing eyes. Even now the wicked spirit lurked there, a glint of mischief in the darkness of heat and desire. It made her smile, and she brought her smile to his mouth and gave it to him. “Miss you,” she whispered. “So much.”
Later it would only be harder. But later was so far away.
My heart is wrapped in fire. Who burns as I do? Is there no remedy?
Laughter bubbled inside her along with a sorrow all but unbearable. Madness. Wonderful madness.
“We can’t continue this. I don’t regret what I’ve done. But the rest of the world will never understand, and the rest of the world is what Miles must contend with. I cannot embarrass him. I could not live with myself if I did. You can have no idea what he’s done for me. Without him, I should have gone mad.” “He’s taken care of you,” Rupert said. “Far beyond what most brothers would do for their sisters.” “Then I shouldn’t wish to injure him for the world,” Rupert said. He pulled on his shirt. He wished wisdom were a garment, that he might put it on so easily.
“Send her to me,” Daphne said. “No, no, I’ll use Tom as interpreter,” he said. “They want me to do it. I’m the father.” “The father?” He gave a distracted nod and went out.
She’d trained herself not to think about the hurt, to concentrate instead on her work and how to hide it from Virgil and how to communicate with the scholarly world outside. The rage and despair remained, but she kept them locked inside. She couldn’t live the rest of her life in open hostility with her husband. She could only build a wall around herself, and make a world inside it where she could live.
But we must leave all the lessons to the master. He will tame you soon enough.” “If your master Duval is foolish enough to try to tame a viper, let him try,” she said.
“Wait,” he said. “I’d rather not leave you alone with him.” She gave a short laugh. “What’s so amusing?” he said. “I’ve looked a viper in the eye before,” she said.
Smiling, all sunshine, as though all were right with the world. She smiled, too, because she did not plan to make anything easy for him.
It had been easier for him to leave her everything after he was dead than to treat her with respect and kindness while he lived.
Her throat started to close up. She bowed her head and willed the grief back. If she gave in, she’d sink and never find her way out again. She would be lost. She couldn’t afford grief. She had to be strong and hard if she hoped to survive this and find a way out.
They are barbarians who do not understand or care about bygone civilizations. They dismantle ancient temples to build factories.”
I knew you had a temper. I could feel it, when you were twenty feet away. It was like standing on the edge of a storm.
“I think Daphne would take it very ill, were you to require planting.”
“You’ve got it backwards,” Carsington said. “It wasn’t her rising to the occasion. It’s the occasion rising to her. Egypt and this business with you and the papyrus have finally given her the chance to show what she truly is.
The faint scent of incense wafted about him. This was all highly encouraging. “That is a horrid temptation to put before a man who is forbidden to make vigorous movements,” he said.
“I’m glad I don’t have a sister,” he said. “I should have to get over my aversion to killing people.”
I could live without you, but that would only be breathing. It would not be living.”
She tasted mysterious, like a goddess, and her power over him would have terrified a lesser man. But he wasn’t a lesser man, and a strong woman was exactly what he wanted.
He opened his eyes and looked at her, and they smiled at each other in silent, wicked amusement, the devil in him recognizing the devil in her.
