The Sheik

The Sheik

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Title: The Sheik A Novel
Author: E. M. Hull
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THE SHEIK
A Novel

by E. M. HULL
1921

CHAPTER I
"Are you coming in to watch the dancing, Lady Conway?"
"I most decidedly am not. I thoroughly disapprove of the expedition of
which this dance is the inauguration. I consider that even by
contemplating such a tour alone into the desert with no chaperon or
attendant of her own sex, with only native camel drivers and servants,
Diana Mayo is behaving with a recklessness and impropriety that is
calculated to cast a slur not only on her own reputation, but also on the
prestige of her country. I blush to think of it. We English cannot be too
careful of our behavior abroad. No opportunity is slight enough for our
continental neighbours to cast stones, and this opportunity is very far
from being slight. It is the maddest piece of unprincipled folly I have
ever heard of."
"Oh, come, Lady Conway! It's not quite so bad as all that. It is certainly
unconventional and--er--probably not quite wise, but remember Miss
Mayo's unusual upbringing----"
"I am not forgetting her unusual upbringing," interrupted Lady Conway.

"It has been deplorable. But nothing can excuse this scandalous
escapade. I knew her mother years ago, and I took it upon myself to
expostulate both with Diana and her brother, but Sir Aubrey is hedged
around with an egotistical complacency that would defy a pickaxe to
penetrate. According to him a Mayo is beyond criticism, and his sister's
reputation her own to deal with. The girl herself seemed, frankly, not to
understand the seriousness of her position, and was very flippant and
not a little rude. I wash my hands of the whole affair, and will certainly
not countenance to-night's entertainment by appearing at it. I have
already warned the manager that if the noise is kept up beyond a
reasonable hour I shall leave the hotel to-morrow." And, drawing her
wrap around her with a little shudder, Lady Conway stalked
majestically across the wide verandah of the Biskra Hotel.
The two men left standing by the open French window that led into the
hotel ballroom looked at each other and smiled.
"Some peroration," said one with a marked American accent. "That's
the way scandal's made, I guess."
"Scandal be hanged! There's never been a breath of scandal attached to
Diana Mayo's name. I've known the child since she was a baby. Rum
little cuss she was, too. Confound that old woman! She would wreck
the reputation of the Archangel Gabriel if he came down to earth, let
alone that of a mere human girl."
"Not a very human girl," laughed the American. "She was sure meant
for a boy and changed at the last moment. She looks like a boy in
petticoats, a damned pretty boy--and a damned haughty one," he added,
chuckling. "I overheard her this morning, in the garden, making
mincemeat of a French officer."
The Englishman laughed.
"Been making love to her, I expect. A thing she does not understand
and won't tolerate. She's the coldest little fish in the world, without an
idea in her head beyond sport and travel. Clever, though, and plucky as
they are made. I don't think she knows the meaning of the word fear."

"There's a queer streak in the family, isn't there? I heard somebody
yapping about it the other night. Father was mad and blew his brains
out, so I was told."
The Englishman shrugged his shoulders.