“She assured me that she would keep her compact with the prince and be ready to accompany me at the hour named. I am to call for her and take her in a closed carriage to Kāra’s villa.”
“And then?” asked Mrs. Everingham, eagerly.
“Then there is to be a mock ceremony of marriage, which is intended to entrap the young lady so that she will think everything is regular, and will make no disturbance,” answered Tadros, calmly. “A Copt, named Mykel, who is one of Kāra’s servants, is to be dressed as a priest and perform the Coptic marriage service, which is a Christian function not unlike your own. But the man is not a priest, and the marriage will be illegal. The intention is to destroy the young lady’s good name, after which Kāra will drive her away. Then he intends to deliver her grandfather, Lord Roane, over to justice.”
“What a dreadful crime!” exclaimed Mrs. Everingham, indignantly. “And Aneth is sacrificing herself because she believes the act will save her grandfather.”
“That is Kāra’s promise,” returned the dragoman. “But he has no intention of keeping it. Did he not give her a forged copy of Roane’s receipt? For some reason my prince aims at the ruin of the entire Consinor family. The young lady’s father he has already disgraced and driven from Cairo.”
“I understand his motive,” said Winston, “and believe you are right in claiming that Kāra will not spare Lord Roane once Aneth is in his power. The danger is terrible and imminent, for nothing will move Aneth to abandon her purpose. She imagines she is saving Roane, and has exacted from us a promise not to tell the old gentleman of her sacrifice. So our hands are tied.”
“It seems to me,” declared Mrs. Everingham, after a moment’s thought, “that we must use the self-same weapons in fighting Kāra that he is employing. With the dragoman’s assistance it ought to be easy to save Aneth, even against her will.”
“In what way?” inquired Gerald, earnestly.
She did not reply at once. Instead, she studied the dragoman’s countenance with steadfast eyes.
“What is your name?” she asked.