The Falcon at the Portal: An Amelia Peabody Mystery by Elizabeth Peters Read Free Book Online Page A

from mutual attraction, with only a little help from me. I had no reservations about my part in that affair, for they had been exceedingly happy together. Like ourselves, the Vandergelts were on their way to Egypt where they spent the winters, sometimes with and sometimes without Katherine's children from her first unhappy marriage.
"Not to mention the aunt and uncle of the bride, whose encounters with ambulatory mummies and master criminals have only too often been featured in the sensationalist press," I replied, with an answering smile.
"I notice none of your kinsmen are here."
"Good Gad, Katherine, you have heard enough about my brothers to understand why they are the last persons I would want. My nephew Percy, whom you met when he was out a few years ago, is typical of the rest of them. I suppose you've read his wretched little book. He sent copies to everyone."
"It is extremely entertaining," said Katherine, with a smile that rounded her cheeks and narrowed her slanted eyes. I had thought when I first met her that she reminded me of a plump-faced tabby cat; her smile had the same touch of cynicism that marks the countenance of a feline—most of whom are cynics by nature as well as experience.
"So I have been informed. I have not the time to waste with such stuff. As for Emerson's family, it consists solely of Walter. There was an estrangement, I believe; when I suggested this might be a suitable occasion for mending relations, Emerson informed me it was a bit late, since both his parents had passed on. Naturally I never pursued a subject that was clearly painful to my dear husband."
    "Naturally," said Katherine.
Evelyn and Walter did not mingle in local society, and they knew quite well what their stuffy county neighbors thought of the match. That opinion was shared, alas, by most of our archaeological acquaintances, who regarded the Egyptians with whom they worked and lived as inferiors. Certain members of both groups would have come had they been invited, but only out of vulgar curiosity. We had decided, therefore, not to invite them. Only our closest friends and kin were there, and Katherine was certainly correct about the unconventional composition of the guest list.
Gargery was chatting with Kevin O'Connell and his wife. Kevin's quizzical blue eyes kept wandering from Daoud, almost seven feet tall in his towering turban, to Rose in a hat so loaded with fluttering silk flowers, it looked as if it were about to fly off her head. I did not doubt that he was mentally composing the story he would like to have written for his cursed newspaper. The gentleman and the journalist were always at war in Kevin, but I was certain that on this occasion the gentleman would keep his word, especially since Emerson had threatened to perpetrate various indignities upon his person if he published anything.
The children's laughing voices rose above the quieter tones of their elders. I still thought of them as children, but most of them were young men and women now; how quickly time passes, I thought with pleasurable melancholy. Raddie, the younger Emersons's eldest, had gone down from Oxford with high honors; a gentle, scholarly man like his father, he was chatting with Nefret, his head bent attentively and his mild blue eyes fixed on her face. The twins, Johnny and Willy, were in a corner with Ramses. Johnny, the comedian of the family, must have been telling some wild story, for I heard Ramses laugh out loud, which was a rare event. Margaret, Lia's younger sister, was romping with Bertie and Anna, Katherine's children. Evelyn was talking with Fatima, who had left off her veil and somber black in honor of the occasion. Emerson had taken Walter and Cyrus Vandergelt aside and was gesturing animatedly. I had no illusions as to the nature of their conversation.
Katherine laughed. "Isn't this typical—the men huddling together talking archaeology, and the women talking about.. . Stop me, Amelia; I feel an attack of matchmaking coming