Laurence, meanwhile, was playing around his grandmama’s skirts. He had at first wanted to join in his older brother’s activities, but he lacked John’s nimbleness and unfailing courage and so was content at last to run around the deck and bedevil his indulgent grandmama.
William, always immaculately dressed and walking with the unconscious arrogance of a Darcy as he moved about the ship, pursued his studies. His one concession to his location was that he pursued them on the deck, not below, and was presently looking through a telescope out to sea.
The girls, too, were enjoying their new venture, and while Beth sketched and painted, Jane was often to be found running round her grandmama, while it was common to see Margaret with Sophie.
The two were together now and as John ran off to help fold a sail, Darcy smiled to see them. His youngest daughter was often overlooked, especially by her grandmama, who preferred the more boisterous older children, but Sophie had taken the little girl under her wing and Darcy felt very glad they had brought Miss Lucas with them. She was looking very pretty in a summer dress with a light spencer jacket, the sun playing on her fair hair and the breeze catching at the feather in her bonnet.
He went over to her and complimented her on her embroidery, then praised Margaret’s sampler, which was covered in shapes that resembled hieroglyphs.
“That is an unusual pattern,” he said.
“It’s Egyptian writing,” said Margaret seriously.
“Margaret designed her sampler herself,” said Sophie, looking fondly at the little girl.
“And what does it say?” Darcy asked his daughter teasingly, for not even Edward could unlock the secrets of the strange pictorial writing, though he spent the greater part of every day trying.
“It says, ‘Aahotep nefer,’ which means ‘Aahotep the beautiful,’” said Margaret gravely.
Darcy was surprised at her imagination, which had never been in evidence before. But ever since she had discovered the doll it had been developing, and he found himself wondering if his youngest daughter might follow in the footsteps of Fanny Burney and become a novelist; although, if the things he had overheard her saying to her doll were anything to go by, she would be more likely to write Gothic horrors and become a second Mrs Radcliffe.
John a soldier, Meg a novelist, William the heir of Pemberley, Beth an artist… and what would Laurence and Jane become when they grew up? he wondered.
His thoughts were brought back to the present by the sight of Elizabeth standing at the prow of the ship. Her face was turned into the fresh breeze and her hair was blowing loose of its pins, dancing across her neck in a tantalising manner. He went to join her. He put his arms around her waist, and she turned at the feel of him, smiling up into his eyes. He thought how lucky he was, knowing himself to be as much in love with her as he had been on the day they married.
“Is it not exhilarating?” she said, her eyes sparkling.
He kissed her cheek lovingly. “It is. Ah, you mean the voyage!”
She laughed and put her arms over his.
“I was on the point of regretting the voyage when we were all afflicted with seasickness, but now I find myself wishing it would never end,” she said. “There is something invigorating about a life on the water.”
“This is just the start of things,” said Darcy. “Only a few more weeks, and we will be in Egypt.”
“Today it is all water, then it will be all sand!”
“And I have something to show you when we arrive.”
“Oh? And what might that be?”
He took evident satisfaction in her curiosity.
“Let us just say it is a surprise.”
***
While the others amused themselves on deck, Edward was in his cabin, poring over a print of the Rosetta Stone. He had been obsessed with its translation when it had first been discovered at the start of the century, but his interest had waned, only to be reawakened when he had found the map.
He became thoughtful as he relived the memory.
His father’s tales of Egypt had inspired him as a boy, and the thought of a map marking the spot of an undiscovered—and unplundered—tomb had fired his imagination. But his father had refused to let him examine the map, saying it was worthless and telling him not to waste his life on daydreams. So Edward had stopped talking to his father about Egypt, but he had not stopped visiting museums, reading about the latest findings, and collecting pottery.
And then, on a particularly rainy afternoon the previous winter, he had gone into the attic in search of a brace of pistols which had been taken there by mistake, and on a table in a wooden box he had found the map—or at least part of it, for it was incomplete. Nevertheless, there was enough to show that the tomb lay near a city and between two oases. His initial excitement had been dampened by the knowledge that Egypt was full of cities and oases and that his father had been unable to find the tomb despite a diligent search. He reminded himself that it would not be any different for him… until he saw that, along the top of the map, there were several rows of hieroglyphs. In his father’s time, there had been no hope of translating them. But now, with the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, it seemed that such a translation might be possible; and then the fabled tomb, with its fabled treasure, would be within his grasp.
And so he had written to some of the learned men who were working on translating the hieroglyphs and discovered enough to know that the city on the map was Cairo and not Luxor. Knowing that Sir Matthew Rosen was engaged on a dig in that area, he had arranged the meeting in London, hoping that he might be able to persuade Sir Matthew to allow him to join the dig. To his great excitement, Sir Matthew had agreed to his proposal. And what had excited him more had been the discovery that Sir Matthew had in his possession a frieze showing the likeness of Aahotep. The frieze, the doll, and the tomb were all linked, for his father had believed that the tomb was that of the young bridal couple Aahotep had supposedly poisoned.
He thought of the story again. Aahotep had murdered a pair of lovers in a jealous rage and they had been buried in a hidden tomb, protected by magical spells to ensure they would rest undisturbed. Strip away the fantastic story of magicians and spells, so beloved by the ancient Egyptians, and what was left was a down-to-earth tale of two wealthy people buried together in an undiscovered tomb. And he had a map to the whereabouts of the tomb.
But most exciting of all was the knowledge that Sir Matthew had discovered the frieze in a souk near Cairo, confirming that Cairo was indeed the city on the map, and not Luxor, as his father had thought. No wonder his father’s efforts to find it had been in vain!
For the first time, Edward felt he had a real chance of succeeding where his father had failed.
Visions of gold and jewels swam before his eyes… and then visions of himself bestowing them on Sophie Lucas. He had never met anyone like her. She was fragile and delicate and ethereal, and he thought her the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. When she spoke, he bent his head to listen, as if it was drawn to her by a string. Her deep sadness brought out all his chivalrous instincts and he found himself wanting to bring a smile to her beautiful face. And what better way to do it than to shower her with jewels and lay all his earthly possessions at her feet?
Pushing aside his books, he decided to take a turn on deck in the hope that Sophie might happen to be there as well.