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He bent slowly to kiss her again. She knew she ought to turn away, but she didn'
t. And the heat flooded her again, weakening her completely. When she pulled away, he tried to hold her; but her immediate resistance won out.
When she looked at him again, he was smiling.
"A guest in your court," he said with a little gesture of acceptance, "my Queen."
Elliott had not the slightest difficulty overwhelming Rita. Even as she begged him to understand that her mistress was not at home, and surely he must come back another time, he moved past her, directly into the Egyptian room.
"Ah, these lovely treasures. Not enough time in the world to examine them. Do get me a glass of sherry, Rita. I find I'm tired. I'll rest for a moment before going home."
"Yes, sir, but--"
"Sherry, Rita."
"Yes, sir."
How anxious and pale she looked, poor girl. And what a mess this library was. There were books scattered everywhere. He looked at the table in the conservatory. He could see from where he stood that there were dictionaries stacked on the wicker table; papers and magazines in neat little piles all about the chairs.
But Lawrence's diary was here on the desk, just as he hoped. He opened it, confirmed that there was no mistake, then slipped it under his coat.
He was staring at the mummy case when Rita came to him, with the glass of sherry on a small silver tray.
Leaning heavily on his cane, he lifted the glass and took only a taste of it. "You wouldn't let me have a look at the mummy, now would you?" he asked.
"Good Lord, no, sir! Please don't touch it!" Rita said. Pure panic as she stared at the mummy case. "It's very heavy, sir! We mustn't try to lift it."
"There, there. You know as well as I do that it's a thin wooden shell, and not very heavy at all."
The girl was terrified.
He smiled. He took out a sovereign and gave it to her. She was astonished. She shook her head.
"No, take it, dearest. Buy yourself something pretty."
And before she could think what to say, he moved past her and towards the front door. She hurried to open it for him.
He paused only when he had reached the bottom of the steps. Now, why hadn't he forced the issue? Why hadn't he looked in that case?
His man Walter came forward to assist him. Good old Walter, who had been with him since he was a boy. He let Walter help him up into the idling car now, and he sat back, the pain in his hip biting deeply as he stretched out his legs.
Would he have been surprised to find that case empty, to discover that this was not a little game? On the contrary. He realized that he fully believed the case was empty. And he had been afraid to see that for himself.
*
Mr. Hancock of the British Museum was not a patient man. All his life he had used his devotion to Egyptian antiquities to bully people, to justify rudeness and downright meanness to others. This was part of his nature, as much as his genuine love for the relics and papyri which he had been studying all his life.
He read aloud the headline before him to the three other gentlemen in the room.
" 'Mummy Walks in Mayfair.' " He folded the papers. "This is perfectly disgusting. Is young Stratford out of his mind?"
The older gentleman who sat directly opposite on the other side of the desk merely smiled.
"Henry Stratford's a drunkard, and a gambler. The mummy climbed out of its case, indeed!"
"But the point is," said Hancock, "we have entrusted a priceless collection of antiquities to a private household, and now we have this little scandal! With Scotland Yard coming and going and reporters from the gutter press on the steps."
"If you will forgive me," the elder gentleman countered. "The matter of the stolen coin is much more disturbing."
