Amanda Grange & Jacqueline Webb (12 page)

Paul began to pack up his belongings, laughing at himself wryly for his daydreams. It was too hot now to paint and he wanted to return to his room, where in the relative cool he could ponder the morning's events.

***

The man who had introduced himself as Sir Mark Bellingham returned to his lodgings with no less to ponder. He had learned a lot about the movements of the Darcys and had confirmed what he already knew, as well as giving himself the advantage of an informant in Darcy's camp, for he did not doubt that the artist would apprise him of his movements, particularly if there should be any change to the Darcys' plan.

He went into the walled house, with its refuse-strewn courtyard, and up the crumbling flight of steps to the large room beyond. His wife was there, surrounded by a host of colourful items: shawls and scarves and earthenware pots. She looked up as he entered the room.

“La, George, where have you been?” she asked. “I have been wanting to go out this last half hour, but it is not safe for a woman to go out unaccompanied here. I set my foot out of the door and nearly had it shot off by a soldier of some kind. The men here are not what they are at home.”

“And so I told you before we arrived,” he said.

“I wish you would tell me what we are doing here. You told me it would be an adventure, but all it has been so far is seasickness and dysentery,” Lydia said discontentedly.

“You did nothing but flirt with the sailors on the various ships that brought us here, and as for dysentery, you have the strongest stomach I have ever come across in a woman,” said her husband without sympathy.

“La, George, ever since Mama told us that Lizzy was going to Egypt you have been acting very strange. I am sure I had no objection to leaving England, seeing as how our creditors were pressing us close, but I wish you would tell me what we are doing here. And what are these cards for?” she asked, picking up one of the calling cards he had lately given to Paul Inkworthy. “Who is Sir Mark Bellingham?”

“For the moment, I am,” said George.

“Oh, another scheme,” said Lydia. “You are always hatching some plan or other.”

“This one will make our fortune,” said Wickham.

“How will coming to Egypt make our fortune?” said Lydia. “And why did we have to come by ourselves instead of travelling with Lizzy and Darcy? We could have travelled in comfort, instead of taking passage on a variety of cheap old tubs, setting off before Lizzy and arriving after her.”

“Because no one must know we are here, least of all Darcy.” He had no particular wish to take her into his confidence, but she gave him no peace until at last he rapped out, “If he knows we are here, he will know we are after the treasure.”

“Treasure?” said Lydia, stopping in midsentence. “What treasure? There is something you are not telling me, George. Very well, if you will not tell me, I will ask Mr Darcy. I am sure it will not be hard to find out where he is staying.”

Wickham scowled, but seeing that she would not be satisfied unless he told her everything, he said, “You know that my father was a friend of Darcy's father? And a friend of Edward Fitzwilliam's father, too, for that matter.”

“I know he was old Mr Darcy's steward,” said Lydia unhelpfully.

“He should have never been a steward,” said Wickham, a flash of anger breaking through his crocodile charm. “He should have been a wealthy man and in a position to employ a steward himself, not become one. He saved old Mr Darcy's life, and for that, old Mr Darcy rewarded him by making him his servant! My father was not born to be a servant. He was the son of a gentleman. He should have been a wealthy landowner. Then he would have left his estate to me. And he would have been, had old Mr Darcy valued the service my father did for him, saving his miserable existence.”

“I never heard he saved old Mr Darcy's life,” said Lydia, her interest aroused.

“It was in Egypt, many years ago,” said Wickham. “When my father was a young man, before he met George Darcy, he was left a small inheritance and he used it to finance a Grand Tour. He visited France and Italy then he travelled on to Malta, where he met Charles Fitzwilliam and George Darcy. The three of them became friends and travelled on to Egypt together. They sailed down the Nile, stopping every now and then to explore half-visible temples which rose out of the mountains of sand. When they were returning from one such expedition, they found a man in the middle of the desert. He was lying in the full sun, collapsed, more dead than alive. He begged them to take him back to Luxor and promised them a reward if they did so.

“The reward meant nothing to them, but they did as he asked. However, by the time they arrived at Luxor he was so weak that he died. They paid for his funeral and afterward were surprised to find that he had left his few worldly possessions to them in his will, namely three pieces of a map and a curious Egyptian doll. He left a piece of the map to each of them, with the assurance that it pointed the way to an unplundered tomb. It showed various landmarks and had an inscription in hieroglyphic writing. They did not believe him, as the tombs thereabouts had been plundered many times, but nevertheless they were curious and they set out to find it.

“But they never did, and their search came to an abrupt end when they had a terrifying experience, becoming trapped in a cave by a landslide. My father was on the outside at the time and he dug them out with his bare hands, working until they were bleeding and raw. And what happened once he had rescued them? They returned to Luxor and thence to England to resume their lives.

“Charles Fitzwilliam returned to his estate in Cumbria, George Darcy returned to Pemberley in Derbyshire, but my father had nowhere to go. He had spent his small inheritance on his Grand Tour and did not know what to do. Instead of rewarding him handsomely for saving his life, George Darcy offered my father a job as his steward.”

“But what does that have to do with any treasure?” asked Lydia.

“I think that Charles Fitzwilliam's son Edward has discovered the map and knows where to find the tomb,” said George. “Once your mother told us he was going to Egypt, I made some enquiries and discovered that ever since last winter, he has been in constant contact with various men who are engaged in trying to decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs found on the Rosetta Stone. And when I found that he was intending to travel to Egypt, I was sure. There are men here who are experts and whose help will be invaluable to him, and when he finds out where the tomb is hidden, he will be in the right place to look for it. The fact that Darcy is with him confirms it. They are trying to find the treasure, and they are doing it without me. They have two parts of the map and they must feel that, with the new clues revealed by the hieroglyphs, they do not need the third.”

“But you have the third part?” said Lydia.

“Alas, no, I do not have it. It was destroyed, which is a pity, as it was the section of the map which marked the exact spot. But no matter. I have something better than the map. I have a plan.”

“And when we have found the tomb, will all the treasure make us rich?”

“Very rich,” said George.

“Rich enough to buy a home of our own?”

Wickham smiled, and restored to good humour, he picked his wife up and kissed her. “Rich enough to buy us a palace.”

The Darcy party set out for Cairo a few days later. The intervening time had been spent seeing the Alexandrian sights, with Edward conducting them around a series of marvels, helped by a hired interpreter.

The morning of their departure dawned hot and clear. There was much excitement as they boarded the low, flat boats. The triangular sails billowed out in the breeze and the boats pulled out into the river. The water was a clear turquoise and the fertile banks were green with bushes, while farther off the greenery gave way to the golden sands of the desert.

Beth found a shady spot and took out her sketchbook, producing a creditable drawing of the river. Paul went over to look and suggested some ways in which she could improve upon it and Beth thanked him with a faint blush.

Elizabeth, watching from the other side of the boat, realised with a start that this was not just hero worship.

Darcy, coming over to her, said, “What is it?”

“Beth,” said Elizabeth. “I think she has developed a
tendre
for Mr Inkworthy.”

“Nonsense,” said Darcy. “She is just a child, far too young to be developing a
tendre
for anyone.”

“She is nearly fourteen,” said Elizabeth. “When I was her age, I became infatuated with the Meryton curate. Other girls become infatuated with their dancing masters. It is not uncommon.”

“She cannot marry an artist,” said Darcy.

“My dear, she has no intention of marrying him, only of worshipping from afar and hoping he will notice her, as he does occasionally. Fortunately he is a kind young man and he will not play on her feelings, despite the fact that she is an heiress.”

“No,” said Darcy, “I believe he is the sort of man who would never be tempted by money, for if he was, her age would not protect her for long. Georgiana was only fifteen when Wickham attempted to run away with her.”

“But Wickham is a very different man than Paul Inkworthy. I think we are fortunate that Beth has picked him for her first infatuation. She will come to no harm with him.”

“You are right, my love,” said Darcy, putting his arm round her waist.

She detected something wistful about the gesture and asked him if anything was wrong.

“No, not really,” he said. “Only… we are losing them, aren't we?”

Elizabeth leaned her head on his shoulder.

“Ever so slowly, yes,” she said. “It has to happen, you know. You told me so yourself.”

“Yes, I did, did I not? Only this feels different. To lose the boys to school is one thing, but to lose Beth herself is another. She is changing before our eyes. What will we do when she grows up? When they all grow up?”

Elizabeth gave a sigh.

“I do not know. But we have not lost them yet,” she said, rallying.

“No,” said Darcy, rallying too. “And when we do, there will be compensations. We will have more time to spend by ourselves. And speaking of more time to ourselves, when we land I will be taking you on the first stage of your surprise. You have not forgotten I promised it to you?”

She was immediately curious but he would say no more. She teased him about it until they finally landed and continued to tease him as they left the boats behind and covered the short distance to Cairo, passing cultivated fields in which oxen worked, but he was infuriatingly silent on the subject.

Once they had settled into their new lodgings on the outskirts of Cairo, however, he said to her, “When would you like your surprise? Today? Or, if you are too tired, we can wait until tomorrow.”

She assured him that she was not at all tired and he said, “Then we will set out after dinner.”

“After dinner? Set out? But if we are going somewhere, will it not be better to wait until the morning?”

“This particular surprise will not allow it,” he said.

She tried to contain her impatience throughout dinner but when it was over and they had informed the others of their proposed absence, she could contain it no longer.

“Dress warmly,” Darcy said. “We are going to spend the night at the base of one of the pyramids.”

“It seems a very strange thing to do. If you want to show me the pyramids, I will see them better in daylight.”

“There is a reason for it,” he said.

He would say no more, and so, having dressed herself warmly, for the nights were cool, she told him she was ready.

Darcy, too, was dressed for the Egyptian night. He wore a caped greatcoat over his coat and breeches, and on his feet he wore boots.

They left the house by the light of the moon and outside they were joined by their guards, who followed them at a discreet distance as they walked through the deserted streets. Elizabeth took Darcy's arm and relished the silence. Gone was all the raucous noise of daytime: the souk sellers crying their wares, the sound of copper pans being beaten, the braying of donkeys, the snorting of camels, and the incessant babble of voices, rising and falling like a tide rising and falling against the shore. Instead, there was a peaceful silence, broken only by the chirrup of insects.

They went on foot and Elizabeth felt her body relax. This was the exercise she preferred, away from the jolting of a donkey or camel and without the rise and fall of a boat. Instead, there was only the feel of the cool air against her cheek and the comforting feel of solid earth beneath her feet. She relished the exercise and squeezed Darcy's arm, enjoying the wonder of it all. The light was intriguing, with dark shadows falling across their path as they walked past the houses that blocked the light, becoming brighter as they emerged into full moonlight. Here and there a minaret glinted as they wound their way through the narrow streets, and the stars glittered in the black sky.

They walked at first through the outskirts of the city, but soon they left it behind and found themselves on the edge of the vast desert. The dunes were eerily lovely, their great ridges sculpting the landscape with different shades of brown and black as they caught the diaphanous starlight or dropped down into blackest shadow where no light could reach.

And on the horizon loomed the pyramids, beautiful and mysterious in the moonlight.

Darcy placed his hand over Elizabeth's arm and she looked up at him, wondering how she had been so lucky as to find herself here in this magical place with the man who had made her whole life magical. True, he could be infuriating at times and their life together had not been without its arguments, but she knew she could never have married anyone else. He had brightened every day with his presence and he still, after all these years, managed to excite and surprise her, as he was doing now by taking her on a midnight walk across the desert.

As they emerged from the fronded shadow of a palm tree and set foot on the desert, she felt the sand shift beneath her feet and shivered with pleasure. This was what she had wanted. An adventure! A wonderful chance to experience life anew and to feel again all the excitement of new places and the unforeseeable delights they might bring.

“I thought of having camels ready, but I know how you love to walk and it is not too far. Although it will not be easy walking, I have seen you walk much farther and on much worse ground at home.”

“You know me well!” said Elizabeth.

“I should, by now,” he said with a smile, dimly visible in the soft light.

“And that is why you wanted us to set out so late, I suppose, so that we could walk in the cool of the evening.”

Darcy did not reply.

Elizabeth's eyes, accustomed now to the moon and starlight, took in the full splendour of the pyramids. They loomed ever larger as she and Darcy walked toward them, moving as briskly as the soft sand and stones beneath their feet would allow.

“To think, the great pyramid has been here for four thousand years,” said Elizabeth, adding, “You see, I have been listening to William. He has been reading all about it. I think he almost knows as much about Egypt now as Edward does!”

“I am not surprised. He spends his life with his books. But I intend to make sure he spends more time away from them now that we are on dry land.”

“It will do him good,” said Elizabeth.

They talked quietly as they walked onward until at last Elizabeth saw a small camp ahead of them. Several black wool tents were set up at the base of the great pyramid and in front of them was a campfire. The smell of roast mutton filled the air as it turned on a spit over the fire.

“I sent some men on ahead,” said Darcy by way of explanation.

Elizabeth was glad of it. She had enjoyed the walk but she was tired and the appetising smell revived her, as did the warmth of the fire. She sat down gladly beside it. The footmen who had set up the camp withdrew to a second set of tents some way off, and the guards withdrew to a discreet distance.

Darcy sat down beside her and they warmed their hands at the fire, until at last Elizabeth felt able to remove her cloak and Darcy his coat. He began to carve slices of the roasted mutton and he handed it to Elizabeth, together with the rice and other foodstuffs that had been brought from Cairo, on a china plate.

“I never knew you had a desire to sleep in a tent and eat from a campfire,” Elizabeth teased him. “Although it is rather an elegant form of making camp,” she added, as she took the china plate.

“Ordinarily, nothing could be further from my thoughts, but we are here for a reason, as you will see, and I could not let you starve in the desert, now could I?”

She began to eat, the hot food refreshing her. After they had eaten their fill of the mutton, Darcy set it to one side and then took some small cakes out of a box. Elizabeth savoured the sweet, honey-laden taste of them, and when they were done they sat companionably by the fire, which had died down and looked like a glowworm in the dark.

“This is perfect,” said Elizabeth, with a final glance at the stars when at last they retired to their tent.

Darcy took her hand. “The best is yet to come.”

***

Elizabeth was awakened early the following morning before it was light by Darcy kissing her cheek and shaking her gently, saying, “Wake up.”

She opened her eyes and then closed them again.

“It is still dark!” she murmured, turning over and starting to go back to sleep.

“It is time to get up all the same. I want to show you something. It is time for your surprise.”

She roused herself with difficulty and said, “You mean it was not sleeping out here under the stars?”

“No, it is something different, but I cannot show it to you until you get up.”

She rubbed her eyes and reluctantly sat up, pushing her hair out of her face and yawning. It was very early and she was still tired. To her surprise, she saw that Darcy was not only up, he was already dressed. He disappeared through the tent's opening and returned a few moments later with a cup of hot coffee, which he handed to her, together with some small cakes and dates.

“Here,” he said. “You will feel better when you have had something to eat and drink.”

“Am I allowed to know what the surprise is?” she asked, as she took a sip of the hot coffee.

“No. Not yet,” he said. “But I will tell you why you are having it today, or at least, I will remind you. Do you know what day it is today? Or, I should say, date?”

“The twelfth. Oh!” she said with a broad smile. “The twelfth of October.”

“Yes, the twelfth of October. The day we met. Sixteen years ago, we were at the Meryton assembly in Hertfordshire, and little did we know it but our lives were about to change. I was feeling irritable because Bingley had dragged me there against my wishes, and I was not in a mood to enjoy a country entertainment…”

“…or to give consequence to a young woman who had been slighted by other men!” said Elizabeth.

“No, I was not,” he said with a rueful smile.

“And I was not feeling very cordial toward you for disdaining my charms. No woman likes to think she is not handsome enough to tempt a man to dance, though I managed to laugh about it with my friends.”

“What a fool I was,” he said, kissing her. “To think I almost missed the best part of my life because of my pride, my arrogance, and my conceit. But fortunately, I realised what a fool I had been before it was too late and claimed you as my own. And now I want to give you something to celebrate our first meeting. I have given it a great deal of thought, because I wanted it to be something different, not the usual gifts of jewels—”

“Although the Pemberley jewels are magnificent,” said Elizabeth appreciatively.

“—but something unique. I was hoping we would arrive here in time for this day and knew that we would if all our plans went well. And now that we have, we can celebrate in a special way.”

Elizabeth put down her cup, closed her eyes, and held out her hand for the gift.

“Oh, no,” he said with a laugh. “It is not so easy this time, no small box I can hand to you, nor even a horse waiting outside for you when you draw back the curtains.”

She smiled, remembered one of his larger gifts, and opened her eyes again.

“This time, you cannot just receive it, you have to work to get it.”

She was intrigued but could not resist teasing him. “Ah, I see how it is. I knew you would tire of me in the end. Now I am to work for my presents; how long before you send me out to work for my pin money? Perhaps Lady Catherine would let me scrub the floors at Rosings!”

He kissed her on the tip of her nose and said, “Get up.”

She pushed the covers back and climbed out of the makeshift bed. There was already water in the bowl standing beside it, a luxury in the desert, and one which she knew must have taken some trouble to arrange. She washed gratefully in the cool water and then dressed, throwing a cloak around her shoulders and settling a bonnet on her head before venturing out of the tent.

The guards' silhouettes could be seen not far away, but everything was peaceful, with no threat of disturbance.