wasn’t the life for me so I got out.”
“It must have been very exciting, finding this relic.”
“It was. When I was in the Army I spent some time in Egypt. That made it rather specially interesting. I just saw it lying there. The soil was damp and one of the gardeners was doing some planting. It was covered in hieroglyphics.”
“You needed the Rosetta Stone.”
He laughed.
“Oh, not quite so obscure as that. Your father translated it.”
“I’m glad of that. I was named after the stone, you know.”
“Yes, I did know. Felicity told me. How proud you must be.”
“I used to be. When I first went to the Museum I gazed at it in wonder.”
He laughed.
“Names are important. You would never! guess what my first name is.” S Tell me. ” | ” Hadrian. Just imagine being burdened with such a name. I People would constantly be asking how you were getting on with
the wall. Hadrian Edward Lucas Lorimer. Hadrian was out for reasons I’ve mentioned. Edward . well, there are a great number of Edwards in the world. Lucas is less used . so I became Lucas. But you realize what my initials make? It’s rather extraordinary. HELL.”
“I am sure it is most inappropriate,” I said with a laugh.
“Ah, but you do not know me. Have you another name?”
“No, just Rosetta Cranleigh.”
“R.C.”
“Not nearly so amusing as yours.”
“Yours suggests someone very devout, whereas I could be an imp of Satan. It’s significant, don’t you think … the suggestion of people in opposite spheres? I am sure it means something concerning our friendship to come. You are going to turn me from my evil ways and be a good influence on my life. I’d like to think it meant that.”
I laughed and we were silent for a while, then he said:
“You are interested in the mysteries of Egypt, I dare say. As your parents’ daughter you must be.”
“Well, in a mild way. At school one doesn’t have much time to be interested in what isn’t going on there.”
“I’d like to know what the words on my stone really meant.”
“I thought you said they had been translated.”
“Yes … in a way. All these things are so cryptic. The meaning is couched in words which are not quite clear.”
“Why do people have to be so obscure?”
“To bring in an element of mystery, don’t you think? It adds to the interest. It’s the same with people. When you discover subtleties in their characters you become more interested.”
He smiled at me, his eyes saying something which I did not understand.
“You will eventually discover that I am right,” he said.
“You mean when I’m older?”
“I believe you resent people referring to your youth.”
“Well, I suppose it implies that one is not yet capable of understanding much.”
“You should revel in your youth. The poets have said it passes too quickly.
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” He smiled at me with a benignity which was almost tender.
I was a little thoughtful after that and I guessed that he was aware of it.
After dinner I went out with the ladies and when the men joined us I did not talk to him again.
Later Felicity asked me how I had liked him.
She said: “I saw you were getting on very well with him.”
“I think he is the sort who would get on well with anyone … superficially.”
She hesitated for a second, then she said: “Yes … you are right.”
It seemed significant afterwards that what I remembered most clearly about that visit was my meeting with Hadrian Edward Lucas Lorimer.
When I came home for the Christmas holiday my parents seemed more animated than usual . even excited. The only thing I imagine which could make them feel so would be some new knowledge they had acquired.
A breakthrough in their understanding of their work? A new stone to replace the Rosetta?
It was nothing of the sort.
As soon as I arrived they wanted to talk to me.
“Something rather interesting has occurred,” said my mother.
My father smiled at me indulgently, I thought.
“And,” he added, ‘it concerns you. “
I was startled.
“Let us explain,” said my mother.
“We have been invited to do a most interesting lecture tour. This takes us to Cape Town and on the way back to Baltimore and New York.”
“Oh? You will be away for a long time.”
“Your mother thinks it would be interesting to combine a holiday with work,” said my father.
“He has been working far too hard recently. Of course we will not leave it altogether. He can be working on his new book …”
“Of course,” I murmured.
“We plan to go by ship to Cape Town … a long sea voyage. We shall stay a few days there while your father does one of his lectures.
Meanwhile the ship goes on to Durban and we shall pick it up again when it returns to Cape Town. It is calling at Baltimore where we shall leave it again-another lecture-then we shall travel up to New York by land where your father will give the last of his lectures and then we shall take another ship for home. “
“It sounds very interesting.”
There was a slight pause.
My father looked at my mother and said: “We have decided that you shall accompany us.”
I was too astonished to speak. Then I stammered: “You … er … you really mean that?”
“It will be good for you to see a little of the world,” said my father benignly.
“When … when?” I asked.
“We are setting forth at the end of April. There will be a great many preparations to make.”
“I shall be at school.”
“You would be leaving at the end of the summer term in any case. We thought that little could be lost by cutting it short. After all, you will be nearly eighteen years of age. That is quite mature.”
“I hope you are pleased,” said my father.
“I am just… so surprised.”
They smiled at me.
“You will need to make your own preparations. You could consult Felicity Wills … or rather Grafton. She has become quite worldly since her marriage. She would know what you needed. Perhaps two or three evening dresses for functions . and some . er . suitable garments. “
“Oh yes … yes,” I said.
After brooding on the matter I was not sure whether I was pleased or not. The idea of travelling and seeing new places enthralled me. On the other hand I would be in the company of my parents and, I presumed, people so weighed down by their own scholarship that they would naturally reduce me to the status of an ignorant girl.
The prospect of new clothes was pleasant. I could not wait to consult Felicity.
I wrote to her and told her of the project.
She replied at once.
“How thrilling. James has to go up North for a few days in March. I have a wonderful nanny who adores Jamie and he her. So I could come to London for a few days and we’ll have an orgy of shopping.”
As the weeks passed the prospect of travelling abroad so enchanted me that I forgot the disadvantages that
