J o h n e s c o t t agatha Christie

Desert to her. 1 do not think that 1 can find a publisher 
for it, he wrote to her. The best thing is to stop thinking 
about it any more and to write another book.
Agatha was disappointed. She did write another book, 
but some other important things happened in her life first.
CHAPTER 2
A shy young man
A
ga th a’s father, Frederick, died in 1901, when 
Agatha was eleven years old. He was an American, 
and was ten years older than Clara. After he died, Clara 
began to travel a lot, and often took Agatha with her.
In 1911, when Agatha was twenty-one, Clara was ill.
‘You need to go somewhere warm and sunny to get 
better,’ C lara’s doctor told her.
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
So Clara decided to go to Egypt again, and she took 
Agatha with her. They stayed in a hotel in Cairo. There 
were some English soldiers staying near the hotel, and 
they often came to the hotel dances.
Agatha was a shy young woman, but she loved to dance. 
During her stay in Cairo, she went to fifty dances. She met 
a lot of exciting young men and had a wonderful time.
When she came back to England, she was soon getting 
invitations to garden parties, tennis parties, dances, and 
to country houses for the weekend.
Then a young army officer called Reggie Lucy came 
home from Hong Kong. Agatha was a friend of Reggie’s 
three sisters, and often played tennis with them. But she 
did not know Reggie. He was a very shy young man who 
did not go out very much. He liked to play golf but did 
not like parties or dances.
T like to play golf, but I’m not very good at it,’ Agatha 
said when she met him.
T — I could help you,’ said Reggie, shyly. He had dark 
hair and brown eyes. Agatha liked him.
So, while Reggie was in England, he and Agatha 
played golf nearly every day.
One very warm day they played golf for a little while, 
then Agatha said, T’m hot, Reggie! Shall we have a rest?’
They sat under a tree, out of the sun, and talked. Then, 
suddenly, Reggie said, T want to marry you, Agatha.
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Л shy young man
Reggie and Agatha played golf nearly every day.
Did you know that? Perhaps you did. But you are still 
very young, and— ’
‘No, I’m not!’ said Agatha. ‘N ot very young.’
‘O f course, a pretty girl like you could marry anybody,’ 
said Reggie.
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Agatha Christie, Woman o f Mystery
T don’t think I want to marry anybody,’ Agatha said. 
T - yes, I think I’d like to marry you!’
T have to go back to Hong Kong in ten days’ time,’ 
said Reggie. ‘And I’ll be there for two years, But when I 
come back, if there isn’t anybody . . .’
‘There won’t be anybody,’ said Agatha.
So Reggie went back to Hong Kong.
Agatha wrote letters to him, and he wrote to her. It 
was all agreed. When Reggie came home again, they 
would get married.
CHAPTER 3
Tea at the railway station
O
n October the 12th, 1912, when Agatha was 
twenty-two, she went to a dance at the home of 
Lord and Lady Clifford. They lived near Chudleigh, 
twelve miles from Torquay, and there were many young 
people there for Agatha to talk to.
During the evening a young army officer came up to her. 
‘Will you dance with me?’ he asked Agatha.
‘M e?’ said Agatha. ‘Oh, yes, all right.’
He was tall and good-looking, with friendly blue eyes, 
and his name was Archibald Christie. Agatha liked him 
immediately. They danced together many times that
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