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As a young girl she had refused to venture near any rail above the Thames, convinced she might slip and fall through and be swallowed up by the black water.

She felt no such fear now as she and Ramses walked along the Seine towards the great looming shadow of Notre Dame.

She could swim the length of this river without tiring if she chose. Together they could follow it all the way out to sea and take up residence on some isolated island where terrible storms and shorelines composed entirely of jagged cliffs would make it impossible for mortals to intrude. There they would find a seclusion that would allow them to study their every passing thought as one would jewels.

For a delirious instant, she thought perhaps she and Ramses should do just that, right now. But she knew that they had no choice but to return to London, and the sooner now the better.

It was a warm spring evening and they had shed their coats, and she her top hat, so that her hair hung loose in a tangle of curls against the back of her white dress shirt. Passersby must have thought her an elegant street musician with a penchant for men's fashions. Warmth and severe cold, as well as the intrusive social prejudices of others: these things would never trouble her again, thanks to the elixir. Also among its gifts, heightened senses which allowed her to detect whether or not there was actual substance in distant shadows and to commit large volumes of text to memory in several minutes' time. When she was blessed with these things, it was nearly impossible not to shirk off tiresome, everyday obligations.

"You are troubled?" Ramses asked, taking her hand in his.

"No, not troubled. Merely thoughtful."

"Share these thoughts with me."

There was some of the king in this command, but also the counselor. For he had played the latter role for thousands of years and reigned as pharaoh for only sixty.

"I was thinking on what might cause someone in our position to eventually prefer seclusion," she answered.

"Interesting. Without a companion, the thought seems unbearable to me. For me, seclusion meant only sleep. It was preferable only when the demands of those who had called me into service became too much to bear."

"And so you don't dream now of our taking up residence on some distant island where mortals cannot dwell?"

"Is this what you dream of, Julie?"

"I'm not quite sure. The possibility seems utterly tempting. But as

one of a thousand. Or a million. All of which we have time enough now to sample."

Ramses smiled and drew her close to him as they walked. "It is such a different thing to enjoy this gift with you, Julie. Such a different thing to enjoy it with anyone. But most especially you."

"It must be. You refer to it now as a gift. Before it was a curse and you, Ramses the Damned. But I can't imagine you referring to yourself in this way now. This pleases me, Ramses. It pleases me greatly."

"Yes, I see now that it was not immortality that was a curse, but the role I gave to myself. That of counselor. I regret it not for a moment. But it became unbearable. And I can no longer blame my past torment solely on Cleopatra's fall."

"Or Egypt's fall," Julie whispered.

"Yes. There was a hunger in me for a new life. But I couldn't envision it. So I gave myself over to the sands of time itself. Your father's discovery of me, my awakening. These are pieces of a grand destiny, and you, Julie, the most wonderful part of it."

Impossible not to fold into his arms at this, to delight in the feel of his hot breath against the back of her neck as he embraced her. The hour was late, but before the elixir, such a public display of affection would have seemed beyond the pale. Even in Paris.

"We need not return to London, Julie. Not if it isn't what you wish."

"Oh, but it is. It isn't simply for Alex, Ramses. I want this party, this betrothal, for myself and for you. I need it. I can't quite sever all ties. And I need to walk into the offices of Stratford Shipping and make certain all is well for myself. And besides...what if this creature can find Alex? What if she has enough knowledge to track him to London?"

"She can easily find him and find us," said Ramses. "Such are the times. Newspapers, telegraphs, photographs."

Julie was beginning to realize they might have to remain in England simply to protect Alex Savarell. But she didn't want to commit to this as yet. Only time would reveal whether the revenant Cleopatra was interested in any of them. And then there was Elliott. Elliott was now quite capable of defending his son from any assault by the monster. How she hated to disturb Elliott now, to distract him from the things Elliott felt he had to do.

She steered Ramses to a bench along the river, a comfortable iron bench on which they could sit and watch those strolling past.

"Should we cable Elliott?" she asked. "Let him know about Cleopatra?"

"Not yet," said Ramses. "We'll leave for London tomorrow if you wish. I would rather Elliott completed his plans. His family is depending on him. I love these people because you love them; and I am bound to them because you're bound to them. If it does turn out that Cleopatra comes to London to search for young Savarell, well, then we can send for Elliott."

This moved her deeply. She wasn't sure it was wise to say so. What a complex and loving being Ramses was. And Julie realized it would have broken her heart had he not loved Elliott.

Elliott Savarell had been her father's closest friend. She even suspected the two men of having been lovers in their youth. In fact she was sure of it.