Chapter 35 #2
As though he could tell me something that would make me not want to go with him. Ginger frowned and took the burqa he offered, then found a simple cotton dress in her trunk to wear under it. “What is it?”
“The Egyptian nationalist I fought with this evening. The one from the cellar. What I didn’t tell you about him yet … He’s my uncle. Khaled El-Masry.”
She gave him a confused look. “What do you mean? As in … your relation?”
Noah came closer to her and interlocked their fingers, staring at their hands together in the darkness. “My mother’s brother. My mother was an Egyptian. Her name was Fatima El-Masry.”
Egyptian?
She turned toward him, studying his profile. No trace of falsehood or teasing hinted at his features. But the corners of his eyes squinted as he awaited her reaction.
He was waiting for her to show her outrage.
She smiled. Why had the thought never occurred to her?
It fit perfectly. Though no one would doubt he was English, he blended perfectly with the Arabs as well.
He tanned to a glorious gold, but his striking blue eyes had prevented her mind from making the link.
She felt ashamed of the fact. She’d met several Egyptians and Turks with blue eyes.
And he spoke Arabic perfectly. He was a chameleon not only because of his skills but also because of his parents.
Marrying outside one’s race was scandalous.
He’d likely been brought up to believe his true background was a thing to be ashamed of.
She kept her voice low. “Do you really think I could ever look at you differently because of that?”
“You might. It wouldn’t be the first time.” A shadow crossed his face.
“Which is why you’d hidden the fact,” she said, her brows furrowing. She didn’t have to ask why. She knew how anyone perceived to be from another race was viewed in society.
Noah went back to dressing himself. “I’ve only told a few people. My aunt had advised against it.”
She thought of the young orphan boy he’d been, told to deny who he was and pretend the mother he’d loved had been someone else.
“That can’t have been easy,” she said. She pulled the burqa over her head.
“You’ll have to do a lot more than that for me to look at you differently, my love.
Though, I think I finally understand why you’re so perfect for this job you’re doing.
No wonder Lord Helton wouldn’t let you out of his grip for so long. There aren’t many men like you.”
“He and Victoria know of my family background. Matter of fact, Victoria is half-Egyptian herself.”
Despite everything, she felt an irrational stab of jealousy.
Victoria? There she was again, making inroads into their lives.
Ginger pushed the thought of her away. “You know, Jack would probably be furious if he knew I told you, but he said you always kept a photograph of your mother with you. Given what a handsome son she had, I’m certain she was beautiful. ”
He searched her gaze, then placed his thumb and forefinger on her chin. He lifted his head to hers and kissed her lips with a feather-soft kiss. “She was. I’d like to think she would have liked my exquisite wife.”
A warm feeling spread within her. “How did your parents meet?”
“My father came to Egypt in the 1880s to fight in the war with the Sudanese. While he was here in Cairo, he fell in love with the daughter of one of the Egyptian generals. They were hopelessly matched, my father being an Irish Catholic soldier and she a Moslem from a wealthy family. When they ran away together, my mother’s father disowned her and threatened to kill my father. ”
He’d told her before how much his parents had loved each other. They must have, to have risked so much. Even Noah’s father had taken a risk: his mother wouldn’t have likely been looked at kindly in his world. “You said your mother taught you Irish?”
“She taught me several languages. She had studied French and English besides Arabic. One of my parents’ neighbors that she befriended taught her Irish.”
Ginger’s thoughts grew darker. “Does your uncle know who you are?”
“Stephen made certain of it tonight. According to Alastair, the British government has decided to call me the leader of the Aleaqrab, though. They’re hunting me, Ginger.
And I want to take you with me, but I’m not certain how easy it will be to get away.
But if I leave you here, they may try to use you—”
“To capture you.” Osborne’s claims about Noah’s divided loyalties were now clearer than ever. And given what had transpired this evening at the palace, she was sure Noah’s family history would help convict him in the eyes of British society.
Rage crawled into Ginger’s chest. “How could Lord Helton allow this?”
“I’m no longer useful to him. And Stephen has offered him intimate knowledge on British enemies. Far more intelligence than I could have produced in years. I must leave here right away.”
“I’m going with you, of course. But where are we going?”
“After Sarah Hanover. Then Jack. It won’t be easy, though. I can’t rely on any of my friends or contacts to help. Not with Lord Helton knowing as much as he does about me.”
“Is Sarah in danger?”
Noah set his hand on the back of a chaise. “Victoria confessed earlier that Jack was being held on the outskirts of Cairo, where they had held her. Apparently, Osborne had some sort of coded message about the concession he tried to have Jack decrypt. One that—”
“They need Sarah to decrypt in order to find the concession.” Of course.
Noah went back to his bags. “Yes, I believe so. I have a feeling they captured Paul Hanover after he’d returned from Malta.
Victoria mentioned Paul had been found with a coded message.
But it’s likely that the message wasn’t intended for Jack and might be something he’s not able to decrypt.
Victoria mentioned he was sick with one of the tropical illnesses too, which may have hindered him.
I think it’s likely the message was intended for Sarah. ”
Ginger clutched the black fabric of the burqa.
Noah’s deductions seemed accurate—she never would have put it all together the way he had—but they’d also come too late.
“We need to hurry then.” Sarah was friendly and warm, and her sense of humor, though outrageous, had been welcome.
If any harm came to her, Ginger would feel responsible. “What if they’ve already—”
“Don’t worry yet. If they’ve taken her, she may be on her way to where they’re holding Jack.”
Ginger went toward her trunk. “I should get my kitbag together. Take some things with me.”
They’d have to leave her trunk here since there was no way to lug it around with them. But anything she left she risked never seeing again. With both Stephen and the government hunting Noah, who knew when she could return? “Do you think we’ll ever come back here?”
Noah lifted his bag onto his shoulder. “I’m not sure. I won’t be able to move with the freedom I’m accustomed to. And they’ll likely be looking for you too. We’ll have to be careful.”
Ginger pulled extra clothes into a kitbag, along with her medical supplies.
The way things seemed to go, she would likely have to use it.
Her fingers hovered over her folded nursing uniforms, and her heart constricted.
She’d spent her entire time in Egypt in these.
Then she grabbed two uniforms, unable to bear the thought of leaving them.
At the very least they could provide an extra disguise if needed.
“If they know I’m here, how do we leave without being seen? ”
“The same way I came in—by the roof.”