of his brilliant smile again, that great sudden warmth of affection for her which made her blush and look away.
"Temples, Julie. The houses of the deus ... di."
"Gods. But there is only one now. One God."
Disbelief. One God?
Westminster Abbey. They walked together under the high arches. Such splendor. She showed him the cenotaph of Shakespeare.
"Not the house of God," she said," But the place where we gather to talk to him." How explain Christianity?" Brotherly love," she said." That is the basis,"
He looked at her in confusion." Brotherly love?" Keenly, he watched the people around him.
"Do they believe this religion?" he asked." Or is it habit alone?"
By late afternoon he was speaking coherently in whole paragraphs. He told her that he liked English. It was a good language for thinking. Greek and Latin had been excellent for thinking. Egyptian, no. With each new language he had learned in his earlier existence his capacity for understanding had improved. Language made possible whole kinds of thinking. Ah, that the common people of this era read newspapers, crowded with words! What must the thinking of the common man be?" Are you not the least bit tired?" Julie asked, finally." No, never tired," he said," except in the heart and the soul. Hungry. Food, Julie. I desire much food."
They entered the quiet of Hyde Park together, and despite his disclaimers he did seem relieved by the sudden timeless trees around him, by the vision of the sky through branches as it might have been seen at any moment or from any vantage point on earth.
They found a little bench on the path. He fell into silence watching the strollers. And how they stared at him - this man of powerful build with his fiercely exuberant expression. Did he know he was handsome? she wondered. Did he know that the mere touch of his hand sent a frisson through her which she tried to ignore?
Oh, so much to show him. She took him to the offices of Stratford Shipping, praying that no one would recognize her, and led him into the wrought-iron lift, and pressed the button for the roof.
"Wires and pulleys," she explained.
"Britannia," he whispered as they looked out on the rooftops of London; as they listened to the scream of the factory whistles, to the jangling of the tram bells far below." America, Julie." He turned to her excitedly, clasping her shoulders, his fingers surprisingly gentle. "How many days by mechanical ship to America?"
"Ten days, I believe. One could be in Egypt in less time than that. A passage to Alexandria is six days."
Why had she said those words? His face darkened ever so slightly." Alexandria," he whispered, pronouncing it as she had." Alexandria still stands?"
She led him to the lift. So much more to see. She explained there was still an Athens, still a Damascus, still an Antioch. And Rome, of course there was Rome.
A wild idea had come to her. Hailing a hansom, she told the driver: "Madame Tussaud's."
All those costumed figures in the wax museum. Hastily she explained what it was, a panorama of history. She would show him American Indians, she would show him Genghis Khan or Attila the Hun - creatures who had brought terror to Europe after Rome fell.
She could not envision the mosaic of facts being created for him. His equanimity amazed her more and more.
But they had been in Madame Tussaud's only a few moments when she realized her error. His composure crumbled at the first sight of Roman soldiers. He recognized the figure of Julius Caesar instantly. And then in disbelief he stared at the Egyptian Cleopatra, a wax doll which bore no resemblance to the bust he had cherished or the coins he still possessed. But her identity was unmistakable as she reclined on her gilded couch, the snake coiled in her hands, its fangs just beneath her breast. The stiff figure of Mark Antony stood behind her, a characterless man in Roman military dress.
Ramses' face coloured. There was something savage in his eyes as he turned to Julie, then looked back at the printed labels beneath this display.
Why hadn't she realized these figures would be here? Why hadn't she remembered? She caught his hand as he backed away from the glass. He turned around, almost stumbling into a couple who blocked his path. The man said something threatening, but Ramses didn't seem to hear it. He was hurrying towards the exit.