"He was not the man Sir Ralph wished his daughter to marry. She was foolish and flouted us—and it seems to me that Sir Ralph then decided that since Theodosia had been so foolish he would offer her chance to you."

"My future husband is not a prize packet on a dish to be offered round."

"One might say that there was quite a prize to be offered to him. I am surprised at the manner in which my husband has left his fortune. I would say it is a victory for immorality and extravagance."

I would not let her see that she had scored. This suggestion that I was being married for my money was not a new one.

However, I said goodbye to Lady Bodrean and left her with the understanding that our association as employer and employee was terminated.

I went back to Rainbow Cottage which would be my home until my marriage.

We were to be married very soon. Tybalt insisted. Dorcas and Alison thought it was somewhat unseemly to have a wedding so soon after a funeral; and I had to remember that that funeral had turned out to be my father's.

When I put this point to Tybalt he said: "What nonsense! You didn't know it was your father until afterwards."

I agreed with him. I was ready to agree with him on anything. When I was with him, I forgot all my misgivings. He was so eager for our wedding, and although he was by no means demonstrative he would look at me in a way which sent me into a state of bliss, for I knew that he was contemplating our future with the utmost pleasure. He took me into his confidence completely about his plans. This bequest of Sir Ralph's was a boon. Such a large sum of money suitably invested would bring in an income which could be entirely devoted to those explorations in which Sir Ralph had always delighted.

He talked a great deal about that other expedition which had ended abruptly and fatally for Sir Edward. He made me see the arid countryside, feel the heat of that blazing sun. I could visualize the excitement when they had found the door in the mountainside and the flight of steps leading down to corridors.

When he talked of ancient Egypt a passion glowed in him. I had never seen him so enthralled by anything as he was by his work, but I used to tell myself that our marriage was going to be the most important thing that ever happened to either of us, even more so than his work. I would see to that.

I was often at Giza House. It seemed different now that it was to be my home. Tabitha welcomed me warmly. She told me at the first opportunity how pleased she was that Tybalt and I were to marry.

"At one time," she whispered, "I greatly feared that it might be Theodosia."

"That seemed to be the general idea."

"There was a great deal of talk about it. I suppose because of the friendship between Sir Ralph and Sir Edward. And they died within a short time of each other." She looked very sad. "I am sure you are the one for Tybalt." She pressed my hand. "I shall never forget how you used to come and borrow the books. Those were not very happy days for you I fear."

I told her that nothing that had gone before was of any more importance. In the last weeks life had given me all that I had ever hoped for.

"And you dreamed your dreams, Judith!" she said.

"I was a great dreamer. Now I am going to live."

"You must understand Tybalt."

"I think I do."

"At times you will feel that he neglects you for the work."

"I shan't because it's going to be my work too. I'm going to join him in everything he does. I'm as excited as he is about all this."

"That's as it should be," she said. "I hope when you become mistress of Giza House you will not wish me to leave."

"How could I? We're friends."

"I have always been a close friend of Tybalt and his father. If I may continue here in my role as housekeeper I should be very happy. On the other hand if you should prefer . . ."

"What nonsense!" I cried. "I want you to be here. You're my friend too."

"Thank you, Judith."

Tybalt said he would show me the house but when he did we didn't get farther than that room in which the sarcophagus had once stood because he would show me books his father had written and plans of sites they had excavated. I didn't mind. I was just so happy to be with him, to listen and be able to make intelligent comments.

It was Tabitha who showed me the house and introduced me to the staff. Emily, Ellen, Jane, and Sarah were the maids, normal girls all four of them and so like others of their kind that it took me some time to know which was which. But there were three strange people in that house.

I had seen the two Egyptian servants, Mustapha and Absalam, strange, alien, and, I had heard, even sinister; I had listened avidly to the stories I had heard of them in the village.

Tabitha explained that Sir Edward liked them to look after him. They would cook him exotic dishes such as she knew nothing of. He had employed them on digs in Egypt and for some reason had taken a fancy to them; he had kept them with him and brought them to England.

She said they had been desolate but fatalistic about his death. They were certain it had come about because he had incurred the Curse of the Pharaohs.

"They are very concerned because Tybalt plans to carry on where his father left off. I think if it were possible for them to dissuade him they would do so."

When I was presented to them as the future Lady Travers they eyed me with suspicion. They would have seen me some years before racing up the path or round the garden.

I was prepared for them. Janet Tester was another matter. She was the old woman who had been nurse to Tybalt and Sabina, after fulfilling the same role for their mother; but she remained with them after Lady Travers's death. I remembered Sabina's saying that Old Nanny Tester went off into "funny fits," and her chatter about the old woman had been so interspersed with other matters—in Sabina's habitual manner—that I had not really taken a great deal of notice, because there was so much at Giza House to concern me. I had seen Nanny Tester on one or two occasions and had thought her a peculiar old woman, but as there was so much that was strange in Giza House, she did not seem so unusual as she would have elsewhere.

I had heard stories that the house gave the maids "the creeps"; and this I had thought had something to do with the strange objects it contained—the sarcophagus, for instance, and that never-to-be-forgotten mummy. Mustapha and Absalam clearly had something to do with it too—and I began to realize, so had Nanny Tester.

"I must explain Janet Tester to you," said Tabitha, before she took me up to introduce us. "She's a strange woman. She is really quite old now. She came as nurse to Sir Edward's wife, to whom of course she was devoted. She stayed on to look after Tybalt and Sabina; but when Lady Travers died she was almost demented. We have to be a bit careful with her, and treat her gently. Her mind wanders a bit. Sir Edward would have pensioned her off but she didn't want to go. She said she'd always been with the family and wanted to stay. There was the ideal apartment at the top of this house, completely shut off from the house. Janet was struck with it and asked to have it. She keeps to herself, although of course we keep an eye on her."

"What an unusual arrangement."

"You'll find you're marrying into an unusual family. Tybalt is like his father, far from conventional. Sir Edward never wanted to be bothered with everyday things. He brushed them aside and took the easy way out. Tybalt is very like him in that and lots of ways. It was either a matter of having Janet Tester here or sending her to some sort of home. That would have made her really unhappy. Tybalt goes up to see her, when he remembers her existence. Sabina comes in quite often. That keeps her happy. Sabina is her pet. It used to be Tybalt but since he's following in his father's footsteps she's turned to Sabina."

We mounted the stairs. What a silent house it was; our feet sunk into those thick carpets which covered every space of floor.

I commented on them and Tabitha said: "Sir Edward could not endure noise while he was working."

The house was a tall one, and Janet Tester's apartment consisted of several attic-type rooms above the fourth story.

I was unprepared for the white-haired, gentle-looking woman who opened the door when we knocked. She wore a crisply laundered sprigged muslin blouse and a black bombazine skirt.

Tabitha said: "Janet, I've brought Miss Osmond to see you.

She looked at me and her eyes were misty with emotion. "Come in, come in," she said.

It was a charming room with its sloping roof, and it was prettily furnished with handmade rugs on the floor and lots of embroidered cushion covers. There was a fire burning and the kettle on a hob was beginning to sing.

"You'll take some tea with me," she said, and I replied that I should love to.

"You've heard of me then?" I said.

"Why bless you, yes. Tybalt told me and I said to him 'Now you tell me what she's like, Tybalt,' and all he could say was 'She's enthusiastic about the work.' How like him! But I knew. I've seen you often tearing about down in the gardens there. What a one for mischief you were! I'll make the tea."

"Shall I do that," asked Tabitha, "while you and Miss Osmond have a chat?"

The expression in the gentle old face changed startlingly. The eyes were almost venomous, the lips tightened. "I'll do it, thank you," she said. "I'll make my own tea in my own room."

When she was making it Tabitha gave me a glance. I imagined she was preparing me for the strangeness she had mentioned in Janet Tester.