What the River Knows

Inez says her goodbyes to the excavation team and pays a final visit to Cleopatra’s burial chamber. Kareem encourages her, “Don’t be sad, sitti. You’ll be back” (328). Before they board the Elephantine, Whit tells Inez that he is returning to England to marry his fiancée. He also mentions that he was looking for a spell written by one of Cleopatra’s ancestors.

On New Year’s Eve, the boat reaches Cairo, and Inez finds Elvira safe and sound at Shepheard’s. Elvira explains that she followed her cousin’s trail. Ricardo intends to send both young women back to Buenos Aires at once. Elvira’s actions make Inez realize how her own disappearance must have worried her family, and she apologizes.

Elvira gives Inez a letter from her father, which she found in her parents’ hotel suite. In the letter, he cautions Inez not to trust her mother, explains that the ring he sent to her helped him make a major discovery on Philae, and entreats her to never stop looking for him. Inez wonders if her mother is holding her father captive and resolves to find him. She tells her cousin all about her adventures. Elvira insists that they attend the New Year’s ball and gives Inez a beautiful gown made of ivory silk embroidered with gold flowers.