Two years have passed and James and Letty have been away at sea on the "Christian Radich" for six months. Letty is bored and wants to go home. They come across a couple adrift in a small boat, a Professor Dawson and his daughter Emma. At home, Elizabeth uses a new communications device called a telephone. She and Daniel have not seen each other for 3 months and all is not well between Charlotte and Samuel. Professor Dawson has been in Egypt excavating the tomb of Neferhotep and is zealously protecting a bag containing a mysterious object. It transpires that they have been on a dhow which was transporting lepers to Crete. James isolates them in their cabin and Emma develops a fever.