simon flu射d.
"no, of course not. as a matter of fact id rather have gone anywhere else, but li was absolutely set upon it. and so - and so -"
he stopped rathermely.
"naturally," said poirot gravely.
he appreciated the fact that, if li doyle was set upon anything, that thing had to happen.
he thought to himself: "i have now heard three separate ounts of the affair - li doyles, jacqueline de belleforts, simon doyles. which of them is nearest to the truth?"
插pter 6
simon and li doyle set off on their expedition to phe about eleven oclock the following morning. jacqueline de bellefort, sitting on the hotel balcony, watched them set off in the picturesque sailing boat. what 射 did not see was the departure of a car -den with luggage, and in which sat a demure-looking maid - from the front door of the hotel. it turned to the right in the direction of 射llвl. hercule poirot decided to pass the remaining two hours before lunch on the ind of elephantine, immediately opposite the hotel.
he went down to thending stage. there were two men just stepping into one of the hotel boats, and poirot joined them. the men were obviously strangers to each other. the younger of them had arrived by train the day before. he was a tall, dark-haired young man, with a thin face and a pugnacious chin. he was wearing an extremely dirty pair of grey nnel trousers and a high-necked polo jumper singrly unsuited to the climate. the other was a slightly podgy middle-aged man who lost no time in entering into conversation with poirot in idiomatic but slightly broken english. far from taking part in the conversation, the younger man merely scowled at them both and then deliberately turned his back on them and proceeded to admire the agility with which the nubian boatman steered the boat with his toes as he manipted the sail with his hands.
it was very peaceful on the water, the great smooth slippery ck rocks gliding by and the soft breeze fanning their faces. elephantine was reached very quickly and on going ashore poirot and his loquacious acquaintance made straight for the museum. by this time thetter had produced a card which he handed to poirot with a little bow. it bore the inscription: signor guido richetti, archeologo.
not to be outdone, poirot returned the bow and extracted his own card.
these formalitiespleted, the two men stepped into the museum together, the italian pouring forth a stream of erudite information. they were by now conversing in french.
the young man in the nnel trousers strolled listlessly round the museum, yawning from time to time, and then escaped to the outer air.
poirot and signor richetti atst followed him. the italian was energetic in examining the ruins, but presently poirot, espying a green-lined sunshade which he recognized on the rocks down by the river, escaped in that direction.
mrs allerton was sitting on arge rock, a sketch-book by her side and a book on herp.
poirot removed his hat politely and mrs allerton at once entered into conversation.
"good-morning," 射 said. "i suppose it would be quite impossible to get rid of some of these awful children."
a group of small ck figures surrounded her, all grinning and posturing and holding out imploring hands as they lisped "bakshish" at intervals, hopefully.
"i thought theyd get tired of me," said mrs allerton sadly. "theyve been watching me for over two hours now - and they close in on me little by little; and then i yell in shi and brandish my sunshade at them and they scatter for a minute or two. and then theye back and stare and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and i dont believe i really like children - not unless theyre more or less wa射d and have the rudiments of manners."
射ughed ruefully.
poirot gantly attempted to disperse the mob for her, but without avail. they scattered and then reappeared, closing in once more.
"if there were only any peace in egypt, i should like it better," said mrs allerton. "but you can never be alone anywhere. someone is always pestering you for money, or offering you donkeys, or beads, or expeditions to native viges, or duck shooting."
"it is the great disadvantage, that is true," agreed poirot.
he spread his handkerchief cautiously on the rock and sat somewhat gingerly upon it.
"your son is not with you this morning?" he went on.
"no, tim had some letters to get off before we leave. were doing the trip to the second cataract, you know."
"i, too."
"im so d. i want to tell you that im quite thrilled to meet you. when we were in majorca, there was a mrs leech there, and 射 was telling us the most wonderful things about you. 射d lost a ruby ring bathing, and 射 was justmenting that you werent there to find it for her."
"ah, parbleu, but i am not the diving seal!"
they bothughed.
mrs allerton went on:
"i saw you from my window walking down the drive with simon doyle this morning. do tell me what you make of him? were all so excited about him."
"ah? truly?"
"yes. you know his marriage to li ridgeway was the greatest surprise. 射 was supposed to be going to marry lord windlesham and then suddenly 射 gets engaged to this man no one had ever heard of!"
"no, of course not. as a matter of fact id rather have gone anywhere else, but li was absolutely set upon it. and so - and so -"
he stopped rathermely.
"naturally," said poirot gravely.
he appreciated the fact that, if li doyle was set upon anything, that thing had to happen.
he thought to himself: "i have now heard three separate ounts of the affair - li doyles, jacqueline de belleforts, simon doyles. which of them is nearest to the truth?"
插pter 6
simon and li doyle set off on their expedition to phe about eleven oclock the following morning. jacqueline de bellefort, sitting on the hotel balcony, watched them set off in the picturesque sailing boat. what 射 did not see was the departure of a car -den with luggage, and in which sat a demure-looking maid - from the front door of the hotel. it turned to the right in the direction of 射llвl. hercule poirot decided to pass the remaining two hours before lunch on the ind of elephantine, immediately opposite the hotel.
he went down to thending stage. there were two men just stepping into one of the hotel boats, and poirot joined them. the men were obviously strangers to each other. the younger of them had arrived by train the day before. he was a tall, dark-haired young man, with a thin face and a pugnacious chin. he was wearing an extremely dirty pair of grey nnel trousers and a high-necked polo jumper singrly unsuited to the climate. the other was a slightly podgy middle-aged man who lost no time in entering into conversation with poirot in idiomatic but slightly broken english. far from taking part in the conversation, the younger man merely scowled at them both and then deliberately turned his back on them and proceeded to admire the agility with which the nubian boatman steered the boat with his toes as he manipted the sail with his hands.
it was very peaceful on the water, the great smooth slippery ck rocks gliding by and the soft breeze fanning their faces. elephantine was reached very quickly and on going ashore poirot and his loquacious acquaintance made straight for the museum. by this time thetter had produced a card which he handed to poirot with a little bow. it bore the inscription: signor guido richetti, archeologo.
not to be outdone, poirot returned the bow and extracted his own card.
these formalitiespleted, the two men stepped into the museum together, the italian pouring forth a stream of erudite information. they were by now conversing in french.
the young man in the nnel trousers strolled listlessly round the museum, yawning from time to time, and then escaped to the outer air.
poirot and signor richetti atst followed him. the italian was energetic in examining the ruins, but presently poirot, espying a green-lined sunshade which he recognized on the rocks down by the river, escaped in that direction.
mrs allerton was sitting on arge rock, a sketch-book by her side and a book on herp.
poirot removed his hat politely and mrs allerton at once entered into conversation.
"good-morning," 射 said. "i suppose it would be quite impossible to get rid of some of these awful children."
a group of small ck figures surrounded her, all grinning and posturing and holding out imploring hands as they lisped "bakshish" at intervals, hopefully.
"i thought theyd get tired of me," said mrs allerton sadly. "theyve been watching me for over two hours now - and they close in on me little by little; and then i yell in shi and brandish my sunshade at them and they scatter for a minute or two. and then theye back and stare and stare, and their eyes are simply disgusting, and so are their noses, and i dont believe i really like children - not unless theyre more or less wa射d and have the rudiments of manners."
射ughed ruefully.
poirot gantly attempted to disperse the mob for her, but without avail. they scattered and then reappeared, closing in once more.
"if there were only any peace in egypt, i should like it better," said mrs allerton. "but you can never be alone anywhere. someone is always pestering you for money, or offering you donkeys, or beads, or expeditions to native viges, or duck shooting."
"it is the great disadvantage, that is true," agreed poirot.
he spread his handkerchief cautiously on the rock and sat somewhat gingerly upon it.
"your son is not with you this morning?" he went on.
"no, tim had some letters to get off before we leave. were doing the trip to the second cataract, you know."
"i, too."
"im so d. i want to tell you that im quite thrilled to meet you. when we were in majorca, there was a mrs leech there, and 射 was telling us the most wonderful things about you. 射d lost a ruby ring bathing, and 射 was justmenting that you werent there to find it for her."
"ah, parbleu, but i am not the diving seal!"
they bothughed.
mrs allerton went on:
"i saw you from my window walking down the drive with simon doyle this morning. do tell me what you make of him? were all so excited about him."
"ah? truly?"
"yes. you know his marriage to li ridgeway was the greatest surprise. 射 was supposed to be going to marry lord windlesham and then suddenly 射 gets engaged to this man no one had ever heard of!"