Publisher's Synopsis
This story records two years in the life of a survivor of World War 1, and his adventures as a member of the staff at the British Embassy in Cairo where he was the Military Attaché, and then in Aden.
He was on leave and had completed family business in London. He stopped at a Lyons Corner House for refreshments before driving home. Also in the cafe were two young ladies, who had been to a party. They were very distressed as there had been a rail crash that would stop them returning to their parents. Russell offered them a lift as he lived close to them. The drive was uneventful except that Russell, who was a committed bachelor, and Miss Sabrina Severn a committed spinster, were attracted to each other. Russell had to attend a conference at the Commonwealth office and was then reassigned to Aden on a secret mission. He had a few weeks of leave left, and spent as much time as possible with Sabrina, and they became engaged just before Russell took up his new post. They obviously exchanged letters frequently. In Aden Russell spoke to an old acquaintance who was now Harbour Master to find out about the local Al Hafrey family because of rumours that oil had been discovered on their territory. Russell accepted an invitation to a reception given by the son of Sheikh Al Hafrey, and discovered that his supposedly secret mission was known to Jalal Al Hafrey in detail. He was warned that if he interfered with Al Hafrey's plans he would be emasculated. Russell returned to London to alert the government about a spy active in the Colonial office but was dismissed because his leader concealed the truth from his superiors. Due to the unexpected intervention of "The Thunderer" he was reinstated and promptly resigned as he had no wish to work with people like Ellis again. Russell drove home one evening and he and Sabrina were attacked outside their front door with chloroform. She was left on the drive and Sir James disappeared. A very astute policeman discovered where Sir James was imprisoned, and he was rescued before Jamal Al Hafrey could carry out his threat.. Shortly after their marriage Sir James and Lady Sabrina moved into a villa in Cairo, and Sir James started to work for the High Commissioner. Sir James was betrayed by a colleague, and taken prisoner by the uncle of Jajal Al Hafrey. He was saved when an army sergeant shot Jalal's father's right hand with a single shot, just as he was abut to murder Sir James.
