Amelia Peabody

**Amelia Peabody Emerson** or Sitt Hakim ("Lady Doctor")

> *I felt I deserved the title; scarcely a day went by when I was not patching up some scrape or cut, although, to my great regret, I was not called upon to amputate anything.* - Amelia Peabody in *Crocodile on the Sandbank*
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Amelia indulges her passions for mysteries, pyramids, and irascible husband Emerson while kindly taking the Gentle Reader along on her adventures.

> *I never saw the world; I stayed my steps in Egypt; for in the antique land of the pharaohs I found my destiny.* - Amelia Peabody in *Deeds of the Disturber*
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## Appears in

* Crocodile on the Sandbank
* *The Curse of the Pharaohs*
* *The Mummy Case*
* *Lion in the Valley*
* *Deeds of the Disturber*
* *The Last Camel Died at Noon*
* *The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog*
* *The Hippopotamus Pool*
* *Seeing a Large Cat*
* *The Ape Who Guards the Balance*
* *Guardian of the Horizon*
* *A River in the Sky*
* *The Falcon at the Portal*
* *The Painted Queen*
* *He Shall Thunder in the Sky*
* *Lord of the Silent*
* *The Golden One*
* *Children of the Storm*
* *The Serpent on the Crown*
* *Tomb of the Golden Bird*

## Timeline

In Crocodile on the Sandbank, Elizabeth Peters states Amelia Peabody is 32, but later books play a bit fast and lose with Amelia's age.

## Telling Descriptions

### The Curse of the Pharaohs

“You’ve got a bit of charm yourself, Mrs. E. I think you have a great deal of sentiment in your nature, though you try to hide it.”

“Absurd,” I said.

-Kevin O’Connell and Amelia Peabody in *The Curse of the Pharaohs* by Elizabeth Peters

I always carry a parasol. I find it invaluable in many different ways.- Amelia Peabody in *The Curse of the Pharaohs*

> “And, ma’am, if you will permit me to say so, the sight of you would make any effort worthwhile. I am--I make no bones about it, ma’am, indeed I say it with pride--I am a most assiduous admirer of the ladies and a connoisseur, in the most respectable sense, of female loveliness.”
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> It was impossible to take offense at his words, they displayed such irrepressible trans-Atlantic good humor and such excellent taste.
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> Cyrus Vandergelt and Amelia Peabody in *The Curse of the Pharaohs*
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The fact is, I abominate sherry, and I like whiskey and soda. - Amelia Peabody in *The Curse of the Pharaohs*

### Lion in the Valley

“Have I mentioned to you, Peabody, that one of the reasons why I adore you is that you are more inclined to beat people with your umbrella than fall weeping on your bed?” - Radcliffe Emerson in *Lion in the Valle*y

### The Last Camel Died at Noon

“No doubt you explained your presence to the satisfaction of Mrs. Emerson; she is a kind-hearted individual with a peculiar weakness for romantic young idiots. You will find me harder to win over, Mr. Forthright.” - Radcliffe Emerson in *The Last Camel Died at Noon*

“It is difficult for an ordinary intelligence to follow the quickness of Mrs. Emerson’s thought,” Emerson said kindly.

## Rampageous Imagination

### The Last Camel Died at Noon

The thought of Ramses wandering alone and in utter darkness, his throat parched for lack of water—losing hope, crying out for help, dashing himself against the stony walls as he ran panic stricken through the endless night of the tunnels—falling, at last, to perish in lingering torment … I tried to banish the hideous sights from my mind but I failed; and when at last the intruders left us, I had no difficulty at all in bursting into tears. - Amelia Peabody

A captive lion, fed on human flesh, trained to mangle and kill the enemies of the king … I would greatly dislike being eaten by a lion. I would dislike even more being forced to watch Ramses eaten by one.

“Oh dear,” I murmured.

“Peabody?” Emerson glanced questioningly at me.

“I think perhaps you were right, my dear, when you said my imagination was too well developed.”

## Sleeping Draughts and Poisons

### The Last Camel Died at Noon

I had one thing on hand that would have done the trick—a necklace given me by one of my ladies-in-waiting after I had admired the pretty mottled black-and-brown beads. They were castor beans, from which castor oil is extracted. Cooking destroys the poison, so castor oil was perfectly safe, but these beans had not been cooked before being strung, only dried. There was enough poison in my necklace to dispatch Amenit and half a dozen of the guards. - Amelia Peabody

## Amelia Loves Her Son So Much

### The Curse of the Pharaohs

I am actually rather fond of my son. Without displaying the fatuous adoration characteristic of his father, I may say that I have a certain affection for the boy. - Amelia Peabody

### The Mummy Case

With a malevolent grin the man he addressed threw out a careless arm. The blow caught Ramses across the midsection and lifted him clean off his feet. His body hit the wall with a horrible crash; he fell i a heap and lay motionless.

I heard Emerson’s roar, and the crack of a pistol. I saw nothing. Inky blackness engulfed me, like a cloud of thick smoke shot with bursts of flame. A great rushing filled my ears, like the thunder of an avalanche...

“Berserk,” Emerson went on, shaking his head dazedly. “That is the term. . . . A berserker rage. I have heard it described. Once could almost believe in the old legends, that the one possessed is impervious to blows, weapons, bullets. . . . The maternal instinct, roused to fury--the tigress defending her cub. . . .”

I cleared my throat. “Emerson, I cannot imagine what you are talking about.”

### The Last Camel Died at Noon

The thought of Ramses wandering alone and in utter darkness, his throat parched for lack of water—losing hope, crying out for help, dashing himself against the stony walls as he ran panic stricken through the endless night of the tunnels—falling, at last, to perish in lingering torment … I tried to banish the hideous sights from my mind but I failed; and when at last the intruders left us, I had no difficulty at all in bursting into tears. - Amelia Peabody

“I am a man of iron control, Peabody, as you know, but I fear my control would snap if someone laid violent hands on my son. And you—I well remember what you did on an earlier occasion, when you believed Ramses had been seriously injured.”

“You keep referring to that occasion and I keep telling you I have not the slightest recollection of behaving in such an ill-bred fashion.”

## References

1. ↑ "Another Shirt Ruined: The Official Amelia Peabody Page". barbaramertz.org. May 2, 2023.