The Night Visitor

The first part of the romantic escapades of an English charmer—an aristocrat and wealthy bachelor, Oswald Hendrix Cornelius. He collects Chinese porcelain, spiders, and the walking sticks of famous people, but above all he loves beautiful women—whom he’s used to changing like gloves. Traveling from Cairo to Jerusalem, Cornelius gets stuck at a gas station in the middle of the Sinai Desert because of a malfunctioning drive belt. Fortunately, there he meets a wealthy Syrian, Abdul Aziz, who offers him a place to spend the night at his home. Cornelius accepts. On the way to the house, Mr. Aziz tells him that he lives not alone, but with his wife and daughter—both, according to him, are extraordinarily beautiful.