The Mummy Case Quotes

“Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“The cat required far less attendance than a human child, which is one of the reasons why spinster ladies prefer felines to babies.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“Emerson bent a tender look upon his son and heir. ‘Very well, Ramses; Papa will find you all the dead bodies you want.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“His blue-and-white striped robe ballooning out in the wind, he rode directly to me and fell off the donkey. Gasping theatrically, he handed me a note and then collapsed face down in the sand. Since the donkey had been doing all the work, I ignored this demonstration. While John bent over the fallen man with expressions of concern I opened the note.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“...no eyes but mine will read these words. Why, then, the gentle Reader will ask, do I infer his or her existence by addressing her, or him? The answer should be obvious. Art cannot exist in a vacuum. The creative spirit must possess an audience. It is impossible for a writer to do herself justice if she is only talking to herself.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“We could not have been more firmly dismissed. Emerson bowed in silence, and I felt a certain … well, perhaps embarrassment is the proper word. For the first time I could see the priest’s point of view. The strangers had moved into his town, told his people they were wrong, threatened his spiritual authority, and he had no recourse, for the strangers were protected by the government. A way of life centuries old was passing; and he was helpless to prevent it.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“As I left I heard Ramses say, ‘May I remark, Papa, dat alt’ough your consideration for my sensitivities was quite unnecessary, I am not without a proper appreciation of de sentiment dat prompted it.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“And off he marched, his shoulders squared and his eyes lifted to the horizon. He looked so splendid I didn’t have the heart to point out the disadvantages of this posture; when one is striding bravely into the future one cannot watch one’s footing. Sure enough, he stumbled into Ramses’ pile of potsherds and went sprawling.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“I was glad Emerson was with me, and even happier that he had not suggested I remain behind. In this, as in all our adventures, we were equal partners. Few men could have accepted that arrangement. Emerson is a remarkable man. But then, if he had not been a remarkable man, I would not have married him.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“After we had turned from the Muski into the narrower ways of the bazaar, the starlight was cut off by the houses looming high on either hand, and the farther we penetrated into the heart of the maze, the darker it became. The protruding balconies with their latticed wooden shutters jutted into the street, almost meeting overhead. Occasionally a lighted window spilled a golden glimmer onto the pathway, but most of the windows were dark. Parallel slits of light marked closed shutters. The darkness teemed with foul movement; rats glided behind heaps of refuse; lean, vicious stray dogs slunk into even narrower passageways as we approached. The rank stench of rotting fruit, human waste and infected air filled the tunnel-like street like a palpable liquid, clogging the nostrils and the lungs.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“Papa, I would like to attend de funeral.’ ‘Why on earth would you want to do that?’ Emerson asked. ‘Dere is a variety of folktale dat claims dat de murderer is drawn to de funeral services of his victim. I suspect dat is pure legend, but a truly scientific mind does not dismiss a t’eory simply because it – ’ ‘Ramses, I am surprised”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“Among other emotions – I confess it without shame – was maternal pride. Ramses had displayed the qualities I might have expected from a descendant of the Emersons and the Peabodys. I”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“You must win the respect of your subordinates by treating them with absolute fairness. Of course it helps to have an inherently dominant personality and a character both strong and just, commanding and yet tolerant…”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“Emerson, do you mean it?’ ‘It is only your due, my dear Peabody. Spite and selfishness alone kept me from beginning on them long ago. You deserve pyramids, and pyramids you will have!”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“What kind of housekeeping do you call this, Peabody?’ I pointed out the injustice of the charge in a few brisk but well-chosen words. Emerson mopped his brow. ‘Pardon my language, Peabody. It has been a trying morning. And now this!”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“I warn. Give it to me. If you do, no harm will follow, I swear it.’ As Emerson might have said, this was the wrong approach to take to me. (In fact, Emerson would have put it more emphatically, using terms like ‘red flag to a bull.’) I”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“Ramses. I had long since resigned myself to the impossibility of teaching Emerson the proper subjects of conversation before the servants. Wilkins is not resigned; but there is nothing he can do about it. Not only does Emerson rant on and on about personal matters at the dinner table, but he often consults Wilkins and John. Wilkins has a single reply to all questions: “I really could not say, sir.” John, who had never been in service before he came to us, had adapted very comfortably to Emerson’s habits.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“I was not unsympathetic with John's mood, but I did hope he was not about to transfer his affections from Charity to the mummy. Charity had not encouraged him, but there can be no more unresponsive recipient of love than a woman who has been dead for seventeen hundred years, give or take a century.”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case

“wholly satisfactory,”
― Elizabeth Peters, The Mummy Case