Page 13 of The Mistress of Ashmore Castle

Giulia really did not want to leave before the excavation was finished. Mary Arthur, who was listening to the conversation, offered to chaperone her after the Antrobuses left. ‘It’s no hardship to me to have a female companion,’ she said. ‘Not to mention the best secretary in Egypt! You can stay with me as long as you like, my dear. And, here’s a thought. When we leave, why not come back with us to England for a visit? The London Season will have started, and though I know you’re a serious-minded young woman, I’m sure you won’t be wholly against a little dancing and a few parties.’

Giulia laughed. ‘Not in the least – though I have always wanted to spend time in the British Museum. The collection there!’

‘You shall – as much time as you like.’

‘I’ll cable my father, then, but I’m sure he’ll agree. He’ll be glad such a chance has come my way. You are very kind, madame.’

‘Not at all. And tell him, if you please, that we will find some respectable family to escort you when you go back to Italy. There are always people of our acquaintance travelling to Florence. He will want to know that you will be properly looked after. You are, after all, still a very young woman.’

Giles never thought of Giulia in terms of a young woman, but he was too absorbed in the new findings and the prospect of breaking through into the burial chamber to give the statement much thought.

He was forced to think about it a few evenings later, however, when he found himself alone for a moment with Minnie Antrobus, who laid a restraining hand on his arm and said, ‘Now, my lord, I really must talk to you, and I hope you will not mind if I am rather frank.’

‘I shan’t mind, as long as you don’t keep calling me “my lord”,’ said Giles, smiling.

There was no answering smile from Mrs Antrobus. She looked quite grave. ‘As you please,’ she said. ‘Now, I don’t want you to be offended, and you might say it’s none of my business, but I took that young lady under my wing when I removed her from her home, and I feel responsible for her. I know if it was a daughter of mine, I should want her chaperone to give a hint, no matter who the gentleman in question was.’

Giles looked baffled. ‘I’m afraid I haven’t the least idea what you’re talking about, except that I’m guessing it concerns Giulia. But what have I to do with it?’

She looked stern. ‘Surely you must know she’s in love with you.’

Giles was taken aback. ‘Oh, nonsense!’ he said robustly. ‘She’s just a—’

‘She’s not a child, she’s a grown woman, with a woman’s feelings.’

‘But I’ve known her since she was a child. She’s like a little sister to me,’ he protested.

She softened a little. ‘Now, I don’t accuse you of any wrong-doing, my lord –’

‘I’m glad to hear it!’

‘– but harm can be done all the same, without intention. You treat her with a friendliness and a lack of formality that can only encourage her. The way you sit and talk with her late into the night, your heads together and your voices lowered: it gives an impression of intimacy that . . . Well, I was quite shocked in the beginning, knowing you to be a married man. Now, I’ve watched you, and I do you the justice to believe you don’t mean anything by it. But, land’s sakes, man, she’s a warm-blooded young female, and she’s far from home, and if I don’t miss my guess she’s had a crush on you for years! A handsome man – and a British lord at that – and he all but makes love to her night after night under the stars! What on earth did you think was going to happen?’

Giles stared at her in dismay. ‘Are you entirely serious about this?’

‘I’m warning you for her sake, but also for your own good. You’re a married man, and you surely don’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest, besides breaking that little girl’s heart.’

‘I have no wish to do that,’ he agreed helplessly. ‘But what must I do?’

‘Step back a little. Don’t be so friendly. Act a little more formal around her. Stop the night-time tête-à-têtes. Talk to other people more, and her less.’ Giles was silent, thinking how much sooner he would always talk to Giulia than anyone else. As if she read his thought, Mrs Antrobus said, ‘Yes, I know, it’ll be a sacrifice on your part. But you need to untangle yourself from her. I wish to God I could take her with me when I leave, but she is determined otherwise, and she’s over age, so I can hardly insist without telling her why. Now, I can’t make you behave a different way, but I think you’re a good man, and I hope you will, for her sake. And I hope you’re not offended that I spoke up, but it was with the best intentions.’

Giles got to the end of a train of thought, and said, ‘I’m not offended. I honour your motives. But I think you’re wrong about Giulia. I’m sure she sees me as a brother, just as I see her as a sister, and you probably mistake our fraternal manner towards each other for something else. But I promise you I will be on my guard, and if I detect any . . . undue fondness, I shall take steps.’

She looked at him for a long moment, then said, ‘I suppose that’s the best I can hope for. Thank you, at any rate, for taking it well.’ And she went away.

They broke through into the burial chamber the next day. The ceiling had collapsed in one place and there was considerable debris to clear, but thanks to three large supporting columns along the length of the room, it was in fairly good shape. And there was great excitement on discovering two sarcophagi, and a canopic chest. Both sarcophagi were open – the lids were lying separately at a distance – and both were empty, which was a disappointment. But one sarcophagus was inscribed for Thutmose I, and the other for Hatshepsut, as was the canopic chest. So wherever the remains might now lie, this was where they had been interred.

There was intense discussion, as to whether one of the female mummies discovered the previous year in KV60 might be Hatshepsut’s, perhaps moved to a different burial site by a descendant – it was known that Thutmose III had tried to write her out of history. Or, of course, the mummies might have been victims of ordinary grave-robbers.

There were dozens of vases, bowls, jars, boxes and figurines among the debris, as well as fifteen limestone slabs, designed to line the chamber walls, with inscriptions that needed to be deciphered. At this point the Antrobuses had to take their leave, having at least had the satisfaction of seeing Hatshepsut’s sarcophagus. Howard Carter, the leader of the dig, presented them with a faience bowl from the chamber for their local museum as thanks for their contribution.

There was one more surprising conversation for Giles before they left. Mr Antrobus’s valet, Afton, came to Giles and begged, with a mixture of embarrassment and determination, to be allowed to stay and enter his service.

‘Mr Antrobus is a good master, my lord, but he’s going back to America, and I’ve got such a longing in my bones to go home. You did tell me you were without a man at present. I promise you wouldn’t be disappointed, my lord, if you was to give me a chance.’

‘And I suppose as soon as you land in England you’ll be off like a hare and I’ll be without a man again,’ Giles said.

Afton looked hurt. ‘Is that what you think, my lord? That I’m just using you for a ticket home? I’m a valet, my lord, that’s my job and my calling, and if I can’t work for you I’ll work for someone else. But I’d sooner it was you, my lord. I think I know how to make you comfortable, and I’m a sticker, my lord, I’d never leave until you made me. But I can’t make you believe me, my lord – only ask you to.’