When her interest changed to
the Tombs of the Rameses, and the succession of the ancient
dynasties, he spent hours studying his Baedeker that he might keep in
step with her; and when she abandoned ancient for modern Egypt and
became deeply charmed with the intricacies of the dual control and of
the Mixed Courts, he interviewed subalterns, Pashas, and missionaries
in a gallant effort to comprehend the social and political
difficulties of the white men who had occupied the land of the
Sphinx, who had funded her debt, irrigated her deserts, and "made a
mummy fight."
One night, as the dahabiyeh lay moored beneath a group of palms in
the moonlight, Miss Warriner gave him praise for offering her the
house in the slums for her experiment. He assured her that he was
entirely selfish--that he did so because he believed her settlement
would be a benefit to the neighborhood, in which he owned some
property. When she then accused him of giving sordid reasons for what
was his genuine philanthropy he told her flatly that he neither cared
for the higher education of the slums nor the increased value of his
rents, but for her, and to please her, and that he loved her and
would love her always.
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