What the River Knows

As Inez searches for the bazaar, Whit smugly notes that she’s lost and offers to guide her. Inez follows him and marvels at the teeming street lined with shops. She buys Whit a lemonade to thank him for acting as her guide and wonders when she was last “this happy, this free” (87). Whit is more relaxed and less cynical at the bazaar, and he gives coins and candy to children. When Inez points out the change in his demeanor, he resumes drinking and flirting with her. He takes her hand in a particularly crowded area, and she finds his touch calming. Inez senses the same magic that fills the ring coming from a jewelry stand and purchases a dirty wooden box. They take a cab to Groppi, one of her parents’ favorite bakeries. During the carriage ride, Inez discomfits Whit by teasingly returning his flirtations.

Groppi reminds Inez of tea times spent listening to her mother’s stories, and she wishes she could see her again. The establishment’s patrons give the young people inquisitive looks, but Inez doesn’t care about her reputation in polite society. Whit again expresses his condolences for her parents, adding, “They were fine people and I truly cared for them” (95). After this moment of sincerity, he goes back to evading her questions about her parents’ last days, which hurts her. She sketches him and comments, “I like to draw people who interest me” (97). He tries to keep the conversation superficial by flirting with her, but Inez informs him that she’s determined to uncover his secrets. When Inez wishes that she had more time in Egypt, he explains that he and her uncle are sailing to an excavation site that evening. Inez spots Sir Evelyn and Mr. Sterling across the cafe.

Inez doesn’t want Mr. Sterling to learn her true identity, so she and Whit hurry from the cafe. During a carriage ride back to the hotel, she deduces that Whit was in the British military because of his physique and the gun he carries, which is engraved with the initials CGG. He admits that he entered the military when he was 15, that he’s the youngest son in his family, and that he’s done something to earn his home country’s wrath. Whit changes the subject to Mr. Sterling and explains that the way the thief is flaunting the ring suggests that he’ll be granted permission to dig for Cleopatra’s tomb. Whit tells Inez that Mr. Sterling is her uncle’s problem now, not hers, and she laments how little she’s achieved during her time in Cairo. Back at the hotel, he kisses her cheek and says his goodbyes. Inez searches her parents’ suite again and finds a letter from her mother to Monsieur Maspero in which she expresses concern that Ricardo is “involved with disreputable individuals associated with illegal activities” (109). The letter also contains a card for a meeting of the smuggling ring known as Tradesman’s Gate. Inez copies the image of a temple gate from the card into her sketchbook.

Now that she believes her uncle may be involved in criminal activities, Inez is more determined than ever to remain in Egypt. She hurriedly packs the essentials she will need at her uncle’s excavation site. Inez opens the empty box she bought at the bazaar and has another vision of a woman with a “regal and striking” face (113). Inez concludes that the box once held her ring and that her visions are Cleopatra’s memories. Ricardo comes to Inez’s room to give her some money and details of her voyage back to Argentina. She learns that he will spend the night on his boat, Elephantine, and sail from Bulaq to the dig site at dawn. His seemingly sincere concern surprises her, as does the realization that Whit didn’t tell Ricardo about her escape from the hotel. Ricardo introduces Inez to a kindly but forgetful octogenarian who is to be her chaperone on her journey home. Once her uncle is out of sight, Inez tells the woman that their train doesn’t leave until the following day and slips out of the hotel.

The narrative moves to Whit, who is in the hotel’s dining room with Ricardo. He drinks and tries unsuccessfully to forget about Inez. A man named Mr. Fincastle and his daughter join them.

Inez takes a carriage to Bulaq and marvels at the vivacity of Cairo at night. At the dock, she meets a boy named Kareem who is part of her uncle’s crew. She pays him to help her purchase a tunic and tarboosh, guide her to the Elephantine, and keep her presence a secret. Kareem introduces Inez to the rest of the crew and shows her to an available cabin. Thanks to Inez’s disguise, Ricardo doesn’t recognize her when he boards. However, Whit comments, “Funny no one talked to you about adding someone to the team” (128). Inez eavesdrops on the men’s conversation. Ricardo admits that he worries Inez may never forgive him. Inez grows angry and frightened when her uncle describes her late father as a “dishonest fool” and says, “If Cayo hadn’t lied to me, he would still be alive” (128).