Dreams of Empire — Jeanne Mackin

The year is 1799. It is a time of dreams and a time of conquest, a time of discovery, and a time of greed....

Illustrator Marguerite Verdier has left her charming philanderer of a husband behind and joined Napoleon Bonaparte on an expedition to Cairo. From Scotland, Lord Elgin, the new British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, also sets sail for Egypt. What these travelers share is the desire for a new beginning -- and a legendary lost treasure called The Woman Carried Away.

Rumored to have been stolen from a pharaoh's tomb, the Woman is history's most coveted prize -- but a prize that does not come without a price. Said to confer mystical powers on anyone who possesses her, The Woman Carried Away also carries a curse that brings tragedy to all who come within her orbit....