Unfortunately Prince Mohammed Said died and his throne was taken by his nephew Ismail Pasha, who became the Khedive of Egypt.
This year on August 15th Bettina had read the huge triumphant headlines when the French newspapers announced that the Red Sea had flowed along the channel from Suez and poured into the Bitter Lakes to blend with the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
The two seas had been joined and East and West were one!
She had been so interested and so thrilled with the whole project that now she felt as if it was somehow ordained that she should, by some magic that she had never anticipated, be present at the Opening Ceremony itself.
She was so excited at the thought that it was hard that first evening at sea to listen to the chatter and gossip of the other ladies or even to
