His lips moved, though so weak was he that no sound came from them, so that Mary had to bend to catch the whisper until her ear just touched the lips still distorted from the effects of the desert sun.

She sat up, blushing from chin to brow, and smilingly shook her head.

“I will marry you, Jack dear, as soon as we find Jill!”

Wetherbourne made a feeble and unsuccessful attempt to frown, and then turned his eyes as Mary turned her head on the opening of the door between the bedroom and the sitting-room.

In the doorway stood the bewildering picture of an Eastern woman.

Wrapped round in the voluminous cloak of the East, with the face and head veils hiding all but her eyes, she stood quite still as Lady Sarah bustled across the room towards her, and Mary held up a warning hand.

A twitching of the man’s fingers drew Mary’s attention, and once more she leant down to him.

“We’re engaged,” came the faint whisper, “it’s Jill!”

CHAPTER XLV

Decked out in Mary’s trappings Jill lay on the couch, her pale face shining like an evening flower, whilst she passed the brush over and over again through the burnished strands of her wonderful hair.

Mary had sat spellbound, almost open-mouthed, at the Arabian Nights tale Jill had poured into her astounded ears.

“Hahmed!” she had exclaimed when Jill had told her of her marriage; and be it confessed that Jill had tautened to meet the coming attack, and relaxed when Mary, clasping her capable hands, had suddenly and whole-heartedly beamed upon her.  “Why, I’ve heard the most wonderful things about him since I have been out here, in fact I’ve been almost wearied to death listening to the accounts of his Haroun al Raschid methods and qualities.  His wedding put Cairo in an uproar—­I saw the pro------ But Jill, darling, is it possible it was you inside the palanquin on the wonderful camel?”

Jill nodded as she busied herself in plaiting her hair into great ropes.

“And you’ve run away—­escaped, you say?”

Jill nodded again.

“Yes!” she said, with three big tortoiseshell combs between her teeth.  “We had a frightful flare-up—­all the fault of my tearing temper.  You see I’ve been absolutely spoilt these last months, and I simply behaved anyhow the first time I got scolded.  But I didn’t deserve it all the same!” she added as an afterthought, as she wound the plaits round her head.  “And,” she went on, “I should never have got away if Mustapha had been with us.”

“Who’s Mustapha?”

“My own special bodyguard!  But as he wasn’t there I managed to thoroughly examine the high wall round the grounds, and found just one spot to give me a foothold.  I scrambled up in the heat of the day when everyone was asleep, and had a terrible time with my garments.”