“How?”
“The army wants a leader.”
“Well?”
“Your defeat of the Mahdi, the organization of a big Soudanese army would point to you as the man. Arabi Pasha would help you.”
“You think I might be commander of the Egyptian army?”
“Greater than that.”
“How so?”
“The army could make you khedive.”
“And you?”
“You would make me minister of war, and I would get England’s influence, and Egypt should become an independent nation, with you as its first sultan.”