The Sheikh. Anne Herries

Mr Randall warned as he went off, leaving them at the rails together.

      ‘Oh, damn,’ Justine said. ‘I suppose we shall have to go ashore.’ She pulled a face. ‘I do so wish I was coming with you.’ She kissed Chloe. ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t—and don’t run off with a Sheikh!’ She threw out her arms dramatically as she spoke, accidentally striking a man standing just behind her.

      ‘Be careful, young woman!’

      In her exuberance, Justine had knocked the man’s arm, causing him to jerk and spill champagne over his suit. It was the man Chloe had noticed earlier being seen off by a party of friends, all of whom were dressed as elegantly as he was, and one of them a rather beautiful young woman. He was glaring at Justine furiously, and she was clearly embarrassed, which made Chloe jump to her cousin’s defence.

      ‘It was rather foolish to bring your drink into a crowd like this, don’t you think?’ she said. ‘Justine didn’t mean any harm.’

      ‘No, of course not,’ Justine said and smiled at him winningly, her cheeks a fiery red. ‘I’m terribly sorry. I hope I haven’t done any real harm?’

      ‘The suit is probably ruined, but it is of no consequence,’ he said and turned away.

      ‘What a rude man!’ Chloe said as he moved further down the rail; the crowd was thinning out now as people began to leave. ‘It was his own fault for getting so close to you.’

      ‘I expected he wanted to wave to his friends on shore,’ Justine said. ‘Oh, lord, I must go or they will take me with you…’

      They hugged and Justine ran off to join the last few stragglers going ashore. Chloe laughed as her friend held on to her hat and tried to wave all at the same time, then she turned to look for her travelling companions. Catching sight of Professor Hicks and his secretary, Miss Amelia Ramsbottom, she raised her arm to signal to them. As she did so, she heard a muffled exclamation and swung round to see that she had succeeded in tipping the remainder of that glass of champagne over the man Justine had upset earlier.

      ‘I see you are determined to ruin this suit,’ he said, and just for a moment she thought there was a glimmer of humour in his eyes. ‘Did I do something to annoy you?’

      Chloe bit her lip. She was tempted to snap at him, but they were going to be on the same ship for a while and there was no point in creating an unpleasant atmosphere as they were bound to meet from time to time.

      ‘I am sorry,’ she said, trying for composure. ‘Can it be cleaned on board? I shall be happy to pay the bill.’

      ‘It is of no consequence,’ he repeated, but this time he smiled. Chloe realised that he was quite attractive when his features relaxed from the harshness they had assumed earlier. His hair was black, cut short and slicked back from his forehead, and his eyes were almost as dark as his hair. He spoke with a cultured English accent, but somehow she did not think he was entirely English. His features were too strong, too—would exotic be the right word? She wasn’t sure. He frowned at her. ‘Is there something wrong?’

      Chloe realised that she had been staring and blushed. ‘No—forgive me. I must join my friends.’

      She left him abruptly, her heart racing. There was something a little unnerving about him, something that made her uneasy. There was an arrogance about him, and something she couldn’t quite place—a feeling that beneath the surface this man was not quite what he seemed. He certainly wasn’t at all like most of the men she knew.

      At college she’d met serious-minded professors, the brothers, cousins or fathers of her friends and fellow students. They were all much alike, gentlemen and sons of gentlemen. Some had been nicer than others, of course, but they had all behaved properly, treating her with the respect due to a young woman of good family.

      At times Chloe had almost wished they wouldn’t be quite so respectful, but she knew she wasn’t the kind of girl that drove men wild with passion. She wasn’t pert and pretty like Justine, and she didn’t realise that her quiet, thoughtful manner was in itself very attractive—or that she was rather lovely in her own way.

      ‘Oh, there you are, my dear,’ Charles Hicks greeted her with a smile as she went up to him. ‘We were just wondering where you had got to, weren’t we, Amelia?’

      The professor and his secretary, who was of a similar age to himself, had seen many such send-offs on board ship, and had chosen to stay well back from the crowd flooding the rails. They were both dressed in sober tweed suits, which seemed quite unsuitable for the occasion to Chloe.

      ‘Oh, Chloe was saying goodbye to her friend,’ Amelia Ramsbottom said. ‘You can’t expect her to spend all her time with us, Charles. She’s young and this is her first time on board ship. She ought to enjoy herself while she can.’ Chloe was aware of a slight hostility in the professor’s secretary, and suspected she might be a little jealous of her. Amelia had been travelling with him for years and must wonder why he had invited a young woman to accompany them this time. Chloe had wondered herself at first, but she suspected it was merely kindness on the part of her father’s old friend. He was a successful man, and could afford to indulge his whims, and no doubt he had been aware that money was a little tight in the Randall household.

      ‘It is certainly all very exciting,’ Chloe said. ‘But I want to help Professor Hicks as much as I can.’

      ‘I shan’t need you all the time,’ he said. ‘You must enjoy the voyage, my dear. I may ask you to take some dictation for me. Amelia types all my work beautifully, but I go too fast for her when I dictate. Your shorthand should be a big help to me.’

      ‘I’m going to my cabin,’ Amelia announced. ‘If I were you, Chloe, I should do the same. You may find yourself feeling a little unwell once we get properly underway.’

      Charles Hicks watched her go. She was a small, thin woman with greying hair and a prim manner. ‘I fear Amelia is not a good traveller on board, Chloe. She has been a loyal companion for many years, but I really believe she would prefer to stay in England. I think this may also be my last adventure.’

      ‘Oh, that would be a shame, sir.’

      ‘Please don’t call me sir—Charles. You must call me Charles.’ His faded blue eyes twinkled at her. He was still a good-looking man though into his senior years. ‘I am sixty-nine, Chloe. I think I shall be content to settle once I have completed this trip. I spent many years in Egypt, as you know, and I have been into the desert on numerous occasions—but I am still looking for a lost city…’ He laughed as she looked at him. ‘Something as wonderful as Petra that would make my name…but I dare say I shall never find it.’

      Chloe smiled her understanding. She knew about Petra—in Greek it meant ‘city of rock’ and was an ancient city of Arabia, situated between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqabah, near the intersection of important caravan routes from Gaza to the Mediterranean. It had once been a flourishing city, but then it fell into decay and had been lost, rediscovered in the nineteenth century by a Swiss explorer.

      ‘I expect many people would like to discover something as wonderful as Petra,’ she said. ‘As you know, my own interest is in discovering beautiful poetry that has been ignored for a long time. Of course, I don’t read Arabic, though I can recognise certain words, but I have done some research and I have been fortunate enough to find some wonderful translations into French and English, which I am collecting together for a book I hope to publish one day.’

      ‘Yes, so your father told me. I find that interesting. You must show me your work another day, Chloe—but now I think we should follow Amelia’s lead and find our cabins.’

      Chloe had been given an inside cabin, which was disappointing in a way, because it would have been pleasant to look out at the sea and the sky. However, she knew that they were more expensive, and she didn’t intend to spend much time in her cabin anyway.

      She had wondered how long it would take her to find her sea legs, but soon discovered that she was unaffected by the slight swell of the sea.