Brian was impressed by the gentle way his client was treating his new bride in her hour of need. Mrs. Chambers was slowly coming around after her sudden fainting spell, and Mr. Chambers was carefully giving her sips of Brandy to help her find her bearings. Once it was clear that his wife would be alright, Mark turned to Brian for the first time with a questioning look. He wasn't at all sure what had just happened and he was desperate for someone to explain. Brian, who certainly did not actually know all the answers, did have an inkling about what had just transpired. He was torn as to whether it was going to be good news or bad news once everything was sorted out. Jennifer was finally able to speak after several long minutes passed.

"Oh my darling, what happened to me. I don't unders....,"

She suddenly stopped dead. Her words faded out in the air and she looked at her host with that same confused look her husband had just given Brian, only this time the look was slowly forming into a knowledge that was even more confusing to the woman. Like a blinding bolt of lightning, she again saw her long lost son standing in front of her. The image flashed inside her mind and she began to tremble against her husband's protective shoulder.

"Mr. Kinney," she managed at last to squeak out, "you must forgive me. I don't know why, but your young nephew looked so much like my son that I'm afraid I felt faint. You must understand that I'm not prone to such behavior, but my son disappeared right here in this Country almost five years ago and I was told he had died. I never expected to see him again and then your nephew is the spitting image of my Justin, or at least that's what I thought I saw. I'm sure it was just wishful thinking on my part, and I really must apologize for my behavior."

She looked around the room as if searching for answers from the walls or furniture or anything.

"Is your nephew still here. I must apologize to him too. I'm sure I'll see the differences in them if I meet him again, more prepared than I was the first time. I hope I didn't scare him away for good."

Brian was more confused than ever. In his heart he sensed that his Justin was also her long lost Justin, but obviously she had decided it was only her overactive imagination. For a moment Brian considered letting her continue to think that way and go along with her notion that Justin had been scared away by her reaction to seeing him. Brian let the thought roll around in his brain, but his heart knew he couldn't do that. Justin's reaction made it clear that he still had a connection to his mother. He couldn't deny Justin the chance to learn about his family. He had the feeling Justin would agree to do whatever Brian thought was best, but he wanted Justin to make the decision for himself. He owed the young man that much for giving him so much love and trust all these years. Brian moved a large chair over to the divan where Jennifer sat next to her husband. He took her cold hands in his and spoke as kindly as he could.

"Mrs. Chambers...Jennifer...I have something important to tell you, or rather to explain to you. But you must remain calm and hear me out before you interrupt or say anything. Do I have your word?"

Jennifer looked into Brian's eyes and felt oddly safe with him. She nodded her agreement. There was a tightness in her chest, as if she knew what was coming. Brian proceeded with his tale...one that he and Justin had worked out together a long time ago when they considered the possibility of something just like this happening. They knew that they might have to explain away why Brian called Justin his nephew and they wanted to avoid mentioning the slave auction, which could be very harmful to their society of Egyptian friends and others who would not take kindly to the subject coming up. Brian cleared his throat, focused, and began his tale.

"To begin, I must tell you that I have little doubt that Justin is actually your son..."

He paused to see if there would be a reaction. Jennifer was true to her word and remained calm although her eyes widened perceptibly and a light seemed to turn on inside her. Brian continued.

"The truth is that he is not my nephew. We have produced that identity for him in order to protect him. You see, I found Justin in the desert over five years ago. I was returning alone by camel from annual races they put on in the desert. I spotted something at some distance away crumpled up near a sand dune. Luckily I decided to check it out even though I did not recognize it as a human being. As I got closer I did see that it was a young man. He was unconscious and badly wounded...barely alive actually."

Jennifer gasped, but held her tongue. Brian moved on with the concocted story.

"He had no identification on him other than a pocket watch that carried the name, Justin. That is why we call him by that name. Anyway, I gathered him up and returned to my car. I thought about taking him to a hospital or the police, but I had no way of knowing who he was, or how he had ended up in his predicament. I decided I needed to talk to him first before revealing his discovery, so I took him home and called my personal physician who is the best in the city. The doctor told me he had a concussion in addition to cuts and bruises."

"It took two days for Justin to regain consciousness and then we discovered that he had absolutely no recollection of who he was or any of his past, including how he had been hurt or by whom. He was in no shape to move around so I decided to make discreet inquiries on whether there had been a missing young man who was of foreign blood. I was fairly certain he wasn't an Egyptian citizen...one, because he didn't understand the language and two, for obvious reasons. He spoke English fluently so I assumed he was from an English speaking nation. I have a number of close friends in high places, and when I told them of Justin's situation they advised me to not say anything until he could remember some information. They warned that there could be problems with his not having a passport or any knowledge of what he was doing in this Country. I took that to heart."

"It took Justin several weeks to be completely recovered and we kept hoping he would regain his memories, but nothing ever happened. To this very day he has not had any cognizant memories, although I can tell you that he has longed to know something of his past. I've spent the last five years making subtle inquiries in hopes that something would turn up to solve the mystery but to no avail. When I saw how artistically talented he was, I offered him a job as my assistant. To explain his living with me, we decided to tell the world that he was a nephew that I was mentoring. Luckily, it was never questioned. I sent him to college for training as an artist and he has done very well for himself."

Brian paused. "Do you have any questions? I will be happy to answer anything I can for you."

Poor Jennifer had more questions running through her brain than she could handle. Where to begin, she asked herself. Finally she mustered up the strength to ask what was foremost on her mind.

"Please tell me, Mr. Kinney, did Justin recognize me the way I did him when he saw me standing in front of him?"

"Yes," he answered simply, remembering how Justin had called out for her as she fainted away. "You had already fainted but when he saw you falling he called out 'Mama'. It caught us off guard, but once we knew you were going to be alright, I questioned Justin. He told me that he could remember you and he had no doubt you were his mother. He still doesn't remember much, but he is starting to. It was all a little overwhelming for him so he went to his room for a bit to gather himself. I can assure you that he wants to talk to you very badly. He just needed to compose himself first. If you will excuse me, I'll go and check on him right now."

Jennifer looked at Brian with pleading eyes. She held tight to her husband's hand and leaned in closer to his comforting embrace.

"Yes, of course we'll excuse you," she answered. "Please tell him that I love him and I'll wait for however long it takes for him to be ready to talk to me." She stopped Brian as he turned to leave. "And Mr. Kinney,...." Brian turned back. "...thank you for saving my son. I am eternally in your debt."

Brian gave Jennifer a warm smile and nodded his acceptance of her gratitude, then hurried away. A part of him was also anxious to hear the story behind Justin's capture and eventual appearance on the slave market...or at least what had happened leading up to that point. Another part of him dreaded the thought of Justin being so happy to have his old life back that he would no longer want to remain with his lover. For all he knew, Justin would not even want his family to know that he was the kind of man who would even want to be with another man. Brian knew countless men, including his friend Prince Ahmad, who led double lives and professed to be heterosexual men in public while living a different life behind private doors. He wondered if Justin would choose to return to America and live that same kind of double life, or even worse...deny who he was and marry some pretty girl for the family's sake. He couldn't bear that thought. He knew it would not bring Justin happiness. Justin already detested having to keep their relationship secret in public now and only did so because of the laws of the land.

Brian hurried to his room where he knew Justin would be waiting. When he stepped through the door he could see Justin sitting on their bed with his head down between his hands. His posture showed the pain he was in. It hurt Brian to the core. He moved quietly towards Justin and sat down next to the smaller man. Justin turned and threw his arms around Brian's middle, hugging the older man tightly to him. Brian could hear small sniffles coming from the buried head. He waited for Justin to gather himself together. After some minutes, Justin pulled away and looked up at Brian with eyes full of pain.

"She is my mother, isn't she Brian?"

"Yes, Justin, I believe she probably is. I think you already know that. She told me to tell you that she loves you. I...I believe her Justin. She didn't tell me your story yet, but I could see her gratitude that I had saved your life in the desert. I told her the story we had worked out before and I can see that she has accepted it. I'm sure there will be more questions later, but right now she is just grateful that her son is still alive. You have to talk to her yourself, you know that."

"I know," Justin replied weakly. "I'm afraid of what she'll tell me. I know that sounds stupid, but I still can't remember anything specific. I'm beginning to picture the home I lived in and my parents, and...oh God, Brian. I had a father. I can picture him. What happened to him? Did he disappear here too? I need to know everything, but I'm scared to know it too. What if I hate the answers?"

"Justin, stop! You've always had more guts than anyone I've ever known. You're perfectly capable of handling anything that life throws at you. I saw the courage in you the first day I spotted you on that auction block. I have faith in you. You are going out there and you're going to get some answers to all the blank spots of your life. You'll convince them that the story I told was true and then you'll worry about what happens next when the time comes to deal with that. In the meantime, I'm going to get the servants to quickly move some of your things into the spare room next door so that they can see 'your' room. Do you agree to that?"

Justin stood up and grabbed Brian's hands.

"I'll do whatever you say Brian, but I need you with me. Please don't leave me alone...not yet. And Brian, I'm not leaving with them...not tonight, not ever. I won't leave you."

Justin leaned over and placed a kiss on Brian's mouth. Brian pulled him into the circle of his arms and kissed Justin as if it was the last time he would ever taste those lips. His heart was thudding with fear, but Justin's last words rang in his ears. He prayed, something he was not prone to do normally, that Justin's words were prophetic. He knew it would destroy his happiness if Justin changed his mind and did leave with his old family. He reluctantly released Justin and the men moved together to the door leading into their garden. As they walked arm in arm through the garden, they each flashed onto the memories of all the days and nights that they sat or strolled through this very place...their refuge from the outside world. They also remembered all the times that they made love in this garden. Neither man wanted those memories to be their last together as they parted when they reached the door leading into the main part of the house and their waiting guests.

To be continued...........................