“Margot told me what she had said in her letter,” he went on. “I agreed. Get that clear. She did nothing behind my back. What she wants goes with me, and she wanted you to know the truth. You’d never have known if you hadn’t followed her to Paris. But I’m not sorry, anyway. I have retired from business. Zalithea was my last deal. I regretted it long before the end came, because I found out that John Cumberland was white clean through. So, listen. Tell him if you like. I’ll hand you a complete list of all the stuff he’s got that isn’t right, and he can sell it back to me for just what he paid. I’m not playing tin angels: I’ve got a market for it at big profit!” Barry was unable to restrain a smile. “If you ask me,” Danbazzar added, “he’d be happier left alone. But do as you damn’ please. There’s no committee of experts in the world would say any piece from my workshop was faked--and you can lay your last dollar _I’m_ not going to say it! As for the job at the tomb--we’re all in the dock together. Pirates can’t afford to quarrel! And now I’m going to talk to you about Margot. I’m going to talk straight, and I expect you to talk straight.…” He talked, and talked straight, for the better part of an hour. He displayed a side of his complex, twisted character, that Barry had never suspected to exist. And, at one point, when he spoke of Marguerite’s remorse for the part she had played, the words of Hassan es-Sugra recurred to Barry: “Be not angry with her.” Finally: “Now we’ve got it all set,” said Danbazzar. “I’ve quit the United States for keeps. You know where I stand. We’re agreed about the bunch in New York. And I know where you stand. Settle the rest with the kid.” He walked out of the room, stately, unperturbed; the Great Ahmes, master of the situation. Barry stood up. Suddenly, he had grown appallingly nervous. He paced up and down once or twice, among those priceless relics of an age whose loves and hates were forgotten before Paris arose from the forests. On one long, low wall, Pharaohs, gods, and goddesses made mysterious signs to one another, signalling: It was so in our day; it is so in this. The rustle of the tapestry portière told him to turn. He faced Marguerite.… She stood on the threshold watching him. Her long dark eyes held the same expression as on that night when, unseen by Barry, she had stolen to the library door to take her last look at him. Yet something else was there, and slowly she came forward to where he stood. When she was close to him: “My darling!” he whispered. His arms went around her very tightly but very gently--not as in that first fierce embrace. And when he kissed her it was a lingering tender kiss. THE END TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES Minor spelling inconsistencies (e.g. El Kasr/El-Kasr, Kûrna/Kurna, etc.) have been preserved. Alterations to the text: Abandon the use of drop-caps. Punctuation: fix some quotation mark pairings/nestings and missing periods. [Chapter I]