Free The Levant Trilogy by Olivia Manning

guests
of the military. They learned later that the place had been a brothel until
closed down by the army medical corps and the brothel-keeper, put out of business,
was free to recoup his losses at the expense of the refugees. They would have
paid no more at a first-class hotel and Guy, trying to make light of things,
said, 'Now we know what it means to be "gypped".'
    No food was
served in the building and the new arrivals, gathered next morning in the hall,
expected the sergeant to return and lead them to an army canteen. He did not
come. No one offered them help of any kind. It came to them gradually that now
they must look after themselves.
    The Pringles,
standing in the hall with the others, were surprised to see Professor Lord
Pinkrose near the door. He was reputed to be a rich man but, ever ready to
conserve his wealth, he had joined the penniless crew that looked to the army
for succour. And here he was, breakfastless like the rest, but having an air
of knowing what he was about. With him were two men whom Guy had employed as
teachers at the institute in Bucharest.
    They were called
Toby Lush and Dubedat. Toby, in his usual get-up of old tweed jacket and baggy
'bags', was clicking his teeth impatiently on his pipe stem. He could not stay
still.
    Seeing the
manager, he held to him, saying. 'We ordered a taxi for ten o'clock. Not here
yet. Keep an eye out for it, there's a good chap.' The other man, Dubedat, elevated
his thin hooked nose, his expression stern, disassociating himself from Toby's
restless shuffling and gasping while Pinkrose, gripping his trilby hat, looked
down at his feet. The hat, that was usually on his head, had left an
indentation upon his strange, dog-brown hair.
    The manager
detached himself from Toby who said, 'I think he'll fix things for us.'
    Pinkrose, lifting
his grey lizard face out of the folds of his scarf, sniffed. 'I sincerely hope
so. I made an appointment for ten-thirty and would not wish to be late. It is
impendent upon us ... yes, yes, impendent upon us to show respect for the man
who holds the reins.'
    Harriet whispered
to Guy, 'What do you think they're up to?'
    Guy, adjusting
his glasses to look at them, said, 'Why should they be up to anything?'
    'Oh, they're up
to something, all right.'
    Seeing Guy
beaming on them with such good will, she said, 'Have you forgotten that
Pinkrose reported you as unfit for Organization work?'
    'Did he? Oh, yes,
I believe he did.'
    'You know he did.
As for the other two clowns - they went out of their way to discredit you in
Athens.'
    'They behaved
badly,' Guy agreed but his expression remained benign.
    The brothel had
not been air-conditioned and the refugees were drowning in the indoor heat.
Guy's face glistened and his glasses kept sliding down his nose. A big, untidy
man with books in every pocket, he could not but be amiable. Cast up here
together in this wretched billet, he saw Pinkrose, Dubedat and Lush as
companions in misfortune and bore them no grudge.
    Making a sudden
bolt out into the street, Toby Lush came back in a state of blustering
excitement. 'It's here. It's outside the next door house. It's been there all
the time.'
    When the three
were gone, the Pringles began to realize that they could not stand for ever,
lost and purposeless, in the dismal hall. Others were beginning to venture out
into the dazzle and unnerving unfamiliarity of the Cairo street. They needed
money. They had eaten in the army canteen at Alexandria and that had been
their only meal in four days. They needed food but, even more, they needed
reassurance.
    Guy said, 'I
ought to report to the Organization office, wherever that is.' Harriet thought
it would be easier to find the British Embassy. They set out. Reaching a
crowded main road, they felt hostility in the heat and tumult and became
reckless. They stopped a taxi and were grateful to the driver for taking them
in. He drove them to the Embassy where Harriet had to remain outside as hostage
while Guy went in and