Even in Cairo, this was sufficient to draw attention. Thin brown children appeared as if from nowhere, their delight in the entertainment multiplied by the element of comedy contributed by a dachshund’s miniature ferocity. Several Egyptian policemen converged on the scene and joined in the shouting. Inside the hotel, a large group of European gentlemen halted halfway down a curving staircase that descended into the lobby. There were dozens of them, some in khaki uniforms, others in well-cut suits. All of them were looking at me. In their midst, like a queen surrounded by courtiers, stood a majestically tall woman in her fifties. More commanding than any of the soldiers around her, she took in the scene and frowned.

At that point, I still believed that if I could just step inside and tell the desk clerk about my reservation, everything could be resolved in a civilized tone of voice. Explaining this to the accumulated variety of Egyptian gentlemen, I tried to move toward the lobby, but Rosie was engaged in a series of feints at the end of her leash. Though she had clearly identified the doorman as the source of our trouble, she took several distracted opportunities to snap at the excited children who danced away from her. I bent over to pick her up. Shrieks of childish laughter, and a shout of shared horror from the men informed me that the movement had exposed my legs upward of their midpoint. Mortified, I straightened, with Rosie squirming in my arms.

The whole thing was starting to look like an audition for a comic vaudeville revue when the queenly woman broke away from the Europeans on the staircase and strode across the lobby toward me, with a very slight and very cool smile. She had a strong oval face surrounded by a mass of graying red hair folded into a pompadour beneath a densely flowered picture hat. Despite the weather and the decade, she was swathed in layers of Edwardian striped silk overlaid with lashings of Belgian lace. From the silver fox boa slung over her shoulder to the black high-topped shoes with their fine pearl buttons, the ensemble was tasteful and expensive.