But Alex scarcely heard. He was whispering to Julie that she must give him a candid opinion of Miss Barrington. And Miss Barrington was the rosy-cheeked blond woman standing in the lobby with Elliott and Samir. A pretty thing, obviously.
"To think," said Julie," you need my approval!" "Shhhh, there she is. With Father. They're getting along famously."
"Alex, she's perfectly lovely."
Through the broad dusty rooms of the first floor they trekked, listening to the guide, who spoke rapidly despite his thick Egyptian accent. Ah, treasures galore, there was no doubt of it. All the loot of the tombs; things he had never even dreamed of in his time. And here it was for all the world to see, under soiled glass and weak lights, yet nevertheless preserved from time and ruin.
He stared at the statue of the happy scribe - the little cross-legged figure with his papyrus on his lap, looking up eagerly. It should have moved him to tears. But all he felt was a vague joy that he had come, he had visited it all as he should, and now he would be leaving.
At last they proceeded up the grand stairway. The room of the Kings, the ordeal he was dreading. He felt Samir at his side.
"Why not forgo this gruesome pleasure, sire? For they are all horrors."
"No, Samir, let me see it through to the finish."
He almost laughed when he understood what it was - a great chamber of glass cases like the cases in the department stores where goods were displayed safe from prying fingers.
Nevertheless the blackened grinning bodies gave him a dull shock. It seemed he could scarcely hear the guide, and yet the words were coming clear:
"The Ramses the Damned mummy in England is still a controversial discovery. Very controversial. This is the true Ramses the Second, right before you, known as Ramses the Great."
Edging closer, he stared down at the gaunt horrid thing that bore his name.
"... Ramses the Second, greatest of all Egypt's Pharaohs."
He almost smiled as he studied the dried limbs, and then the obvious truth hit him, like something physical pressing on his chest, that if he had not gone into that cave with the wicked old priestess, he would indeed be lying in this case. Or what was left of him. And all the world since faded; it was no more suddenly than those years. And to think he would have died without knowing so much; without ever realizing...
Noise. Julie had said something, but he couldn't hear her.
There was a dull roaring in his head. Suddenly he saw them all, these ghastly corpses, like burnt things out of the oven. He saw the filthy glass; he saw the tourists pushing this way and that.
He heard Cleopatra's voice. When you let him die, you let me die! I want to be with him now. Take it away, I won't drink it.
Were they moving again? Had Samir said it was time to go? He looked up slowly from the awful sunken face and saw Elliott gazing at him, with the strangest expression. What was it? Understanding.
Oh, but how can you understand? I myself can scarcely understand.
"Let's go, sire."
He let Samir take his arm and lead him towards the doorway. It seemed Miss Barrington laughed at something Alex had whispered in her ear. And the din of the French tourists nearby was positively frightful. Such a harsh tongue.
He turned, staring back at the glass cases. Yes, leave this place. Why are we going down the corridor to the very back of the building? Surely we have seen it all; the dreams and fervor of a nation come to this; a great and dusty mausoleum where young girls laugh and rightly so.
The guide had stopped at the end of the hall. What was it now? Another body in a case, and how could anyone see it in the shadows? Only weak shafts of dusty light cut through the dirty window above.
"This unknown woman ... a curious example of natural preservation."
"We cannot smoke, can we?" he whispered to Samir.
"No, sire, but we can slip away, surely. We can wait for the others outside, if you wish..."
"... combined to naturally mummify the body of this anonymous woman."
"Let's go," he said. He placed his hand on Samir's shoulder. But then he must tell Julie lest she be alarmed. He stepped forward and gave her sleeve a little tug, and glanced down at