At
last he drew the document slowly from the despatch-box, and glanced up
and down it musingly. "I fancy he won the battle," he said slowly, "for
they have news of him much farther down the river. But from this letter I
take it he is not yet within the zone of safety--so Nahoum Pasha says."
He flicked the document upwards with his thumb.
"What is our Government doing to help him?" she asked, checking her
eagerness.
His heart had gradually hardened towards Egypt. Power had emphasised a
certain smallness in him. Personal considerations informed the policy of
the moment. He was not going to be dragged at the chariot-wheels of the
Quaker. To be passive, when David in Egypt had asked for active interest;
to delay, when urgency was important to Claridge Pasha; to speak coldly
on Egyptian affairs to his chief, the weak Foreign Secretary, this was
the policy he had begun.
So he answered now: "It is the duty of the Egyptian Government to help
him--of Prince Kaid, of Nahoum Pasha, who is acting for him in his
absence, who governs finance, and therefore the army.
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