‘Caroline wouldn’t let us talk to anyone before we spoke to your parents – not even the Directorate. Once we left you in Stalsfrieden, she drove us like a Fury through Gallia, picking up Sophie’s parents along the way, before she commandeered a sloop to get us to Trinovant. You would have loved to see the way she stood up to any official who tried to stop us.’
‘Oh yes,’ he said faintly.
‘I have to tell you, old man, that your mother was shocked by your plan. She thought it was outrageous.’
‘I agree with her,’ Aubrey said. ‘It was outrageous. It needed to be outrageous.’
‘I think it took your father about half a minute to realise that. He said you were extremely clever.’
‘He did?’
‘Brave and clever, he said, while he dried your mother’s tears with his coat sleeve. Then she said you were too noble for your own good.’
His mother had actually cried? Aubrey grimaced. He hadn’t meant to distress his parents this much. His mother was usually extremely pragmatic and he’d been certain she’d see how necessary his plan was.
These are distressing times, he thought. Maybe for mothers more than most.
He became aware of the scrutiny from Hugo and Madame Zelinka. Steadfastly, he kept his gaze on a startled-looking ocelot on the wall just above George’s head. ‘You said that you were able to find Sophie’s parents?’
‘Friendly people, overjoyed to see her and her brother. And more than happy to leave Gallia for Albion.’
‘Gallia is in a poor way,’ Madame Zelinka said. ‘Morale is low, the government is fighting within its own ranks.’
‘Sophie’s brother helped convince them that leaving Gallia would be sensible, at least in the short term,’ George said. ‘After he’d explained what a fool he’d been, of course.’
Aubrey had been wondering how the reconciliation would go between Theo Delroy and his parents. While Aubrey was only pretending to be a traitor, Theo had actually enlisted in the Holmland army.
‘The Directorate was more than happy to see Professor Delroy,’ George said. ‘Apparently he has news about Holmland financial dealings that may be useful in our war effort.’
‘Baron von Grolman’s machinations, I hope,’ Aubrey added.
‘I’d say so. Somehow I don’t think that the secret buying into Albion businesses that he’s been doing over the last few years is going to come to much after Professor Delroy, the Directorate and the Exchequer finish their investigations.’
Aubrey’s head was awhirl. So much information after being deprived of it for so long was like putting a rich meal in front of a starving man. ‘What news of the war? Are we winning?’
‘It’s hard to tell,’ George said. ‘The Gallians have managed to halt the Holmland advance at Divodorum, and we’ve combined with their troops, troops from the Low Countries and some jolly welcome reinforcements from the colonies to hold them up on the north-west front.’
‘A stalemate,’ Madame Zelinka said.
‘For the moment. A bloody stalemate. The weather, old man, has either been a godsend or a curse, depending on your point of view. Both sides have trenches and barbed wire stretching for miles now, but dust is driving everyone mad.’
Aubrey didn’t think it was the best time to raise his nightmare scenario of a continuous battleline, joining the two fronts, but he had no doubt that Dr Tremaine was formulating some way to end the stalemate. ‘And Muscovia?’
‘Much fighting,’ Madame Zelinka said. ‘Nothing decisive. All dug in, like at Divodorum.’
‘And any news from Holmland?’
‘Ah, yes, Holmland.’ George looked at Madame Zelinka, who looked straight back at him. ‘Lots of interesting news from Holmland. For a start, Madame Z’s people say there’s a build-up near the border town of Korsur, south of Stalsfrieden. It’s puzzling because Korsur is a small place, no strategic importance at all.’
Aubrey raised an eyebrow at von Stralick. ‘We have an indication that Dr Tremaine might have some connection with Korsur. Does the Directorate have anything to confirm this?’
George looked thoughtful and went to answer, but Madame Zelinka cut him off: ‘Korsur is not important. Tell him.’
George scowled and, suddenly uncomfortable, rubbed his hands together slowly before answering. ‘From what Madame Z’s correspondents have told us, and some bits and pieces that Commander Craddock mentioned, it looks as if there is considerable unrest in Holmland over the war. Some sign of an underground opposition, it seems like.’
‘That sounds good.’
‘Count Brandt’s efforts didn’t go to waste. His sister is rallying dissidents and objectors, and the opposition is gathering strength thanks to a few handy developments.’
Aubrey grimaced. Holmland wasn’t Albion. While Albion wasn’t perfect, the role of women was changing for the better. Holmland, by comparison, still had an appallingly old-fashioned attitude to women. Count Brandt’s sister may find it difficult to organise support.
‘The Directorate is doing what it can to help this movement?’
‘Funny you should say that, because both Commander Craddock and Commander Tallis were more than eager to send a special team to help the few operatives we still have in Fisherberg. A special team with very special abilities.’
Aubrey had a growing sense of unease. ‘Special abilities.’
‘Caroline and Sophie, old man. They’ve been sent to Fisherberg to foment unrest.’
11
Aubrey couldn’t have been more dumbfounded if Dr Tremaine had suddenly appeared and told them that they would soon wake up and find it was all a dream.
Astonishment reduced him to politeness. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You can imagine that I’m not overjoyed about it, old man, but times are desperate, as Commander Craddock repeated more than once after he’d inducted Sophie into the Directorate. I don’t think that he was happy about sending them, and he was even less happy about your mother’s involvement.’
‘What? Wait – this is too much. My mother?’
‘Lady Rose and some of her friends spent time with Directorate people, then with Sophie and Caroline. Sophie was getting some magical training when I had to leave if I was to go with Madame Z.’
Aubrey’s head was spinning. ‘I’m glad Sophie was getting some more magical training.’
‘A week of it,’ George said. ‘She was frightfully keen.’
‘A week isn’t enough, but it’s something.’ He stared at George. ‘Fisherberg. They’ve gone to Fisherberg.’ Dangerous, enemy heartland Fisherberg.
‘Lutetia first, apparently, with a list of notable suffragists your mother gave them. After that, yes, they’re set to infiltrate Fisherberg.’
‘I don’t believe it.’
‘Look, old man, Commander Tallis said that since there’s already some unrest in Fisherberg about the war this was actually one of the more sensible missions going on at the moment.’
‘There are more preposterous schemes than sending two neophyte operatives into the heart of Holmland?’ What if Caroline were recognised? They’d all been trained in clandestine operations, but Aubrey could only guess at the measures that would have to be taken to avoid detection in Fisherberg.
‘Apparently. Commander Tallis wouldn’t tell me what they were, but he assured me that a hundred more lunatic schemes were currently under way, with another hundred on the drawing board.’
‘I can’t accept that.’
‘That’s what I said, but when Prince Albert said it was so, then I had no choice but to believe it.’
‘You saw Bertie?’
‘You don’t think we’ve all been standing still while you’ve been gallivanting about, do you? It’s been a busy few weeks, old man. The prince insisted on seeing us – Caroline, Sophie and me.’
‘How is he?’
‘Working as hard as ten people, but that’s not unusual in Trinovant at the moment. He said he wanted a chat, to talk to those who’d been close to the front, but most of his questions were about you, to tell the truth.’
‘Ah.’
‘He was worried, but we told him that you’d be all right. Caroline was most forthright, and scolded him when he expressed some doubts.’