Three Rivers by Roberta Latow Page B

I tell you that, I am sure you will not be embarrassed. Now, come along.”
    As they were about to start down the stairs they were stopped by Alexander, who greeted Alexis. The two men shook hands. In Arabic, they said a few things to one another.
    Alexander said good-bye to Isabel and that he hoped that she would be very happy in Egypt. He kissed her hand and when he looked into her eyes there was that same hidden meaning that she had seen in London.
    Isabel was not at all mad, she realized. Alexander Gordon-Spencer knew more about her and her trip to Cairo than he wanted her to think he did.
    At last they were down the stairs and in the car, but just before they pulled away Gamal appeared. Sir Alexis rolled down the window, and he and Gamal greeted one another. Gamal spoke with him for a minute, Sir Alexis laughed and smiled, gave a few instructions, dismissed Gamal and turned to Isabel. With a broad smile he said, “You have conquered Gamal.” Then he told the driver something in Arabic, and they were on their way.
    “You do not remember me, do you?”
    Isabel did remember him, but not from that night at the Chicago Art Institute. “Yes, I do, Alexis. But I will confess that you are not the man I thought you were when I spoke to you on the telephone.”
    “And who did you think I was?”
    Isabel looked straight into Alexis’s wonderful face, his piercing dark eyes, hawklike nose and thick black hair flecked with gray. She found herself smiling, and that led to roars of laughter. He sensed that she was not laughing at him, and her laughter was infectious. Laughing madly, the two of them sat in the back seat of the Rolls that sped towards Cairo.
    He finally said, “Isabel, what are we laughing about?”
    She brought herself under control and told him.
    “The night you called me in London and told me where we met, I racked my brains trying to remember the men that I met that night. Then it came to me: I remembered meeting very briefly a man who was from either Cairo or Jeddah. He was about five feet tall, wore a banana-colored suit, had eyes that were the size of pinheads, andwhen he focused them on me I knew that he was having a momentary fantasy. He was one of the most singularly unattractive men I have ever come across.”
    Her smile played at the corners of her mouth, as she continued. “So you see, when you called me and were so charming on the telephone, I had only the image of that man to fall back on. And that was even a blurred image inasmuch as the moment I saw the look in the man’s eyes, I said, ‘How do you do,’ and left as quickly as possible, not to get involved and not to be rude to him since I am sure he was a nice enough person.” She stopped to catch her breath. “Actually, as you spoke to me all I really saw clearly was the banana-colored suit. But there was something about the way you spoke, something about your voice that made me unsure if you were that suit. Now, you will understand that when you greeted me a short time ago on the plane, I was quite bowled over to see you were more than five feet tall and that, when you looked at me, I realized you had the largest, most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. Don’t be embarrassed, I have calmed down now.”
    They both started laughing again.
    “But you said that you did remember me. From where?”
    Isabel touched his arm. “Oh, look, Alexis! They are marvelous! I love camels!” She pointed out of the window at a herd of camels racing along next to the road. They were being herded — all fifty or more of them — by half a dozen drivers. The camels, their hooves beating with dull echoes from the density of the sand, their strange bleating sounds, and the Arabic curses coming from the drivers, high up in their saddles, bouncing along in the clouds of dust, raised quite a contrast to the shiny, sleek Rolls racing along beside them.
    “Where are they going? They are so wonderful looking! I adore watching them race along,” Isabel