Which meant that he wasn’t totally aware of his surroundings as he marched through a door into a smaller area with a young woman working alone at a desk, her back toward him. Still trying to appear as if he knew where he was going, he kept on toward the open door just past her and was glad when she didn’t look up. For a moment, he thought of asking her for directions, but he dismissed the thought. He was bound to find the basement sooner or later.
When he opened the door, all he saw on the other side was a windowless office. A lonely desk, an empty hat rack, a filing cabinet and nowhere to go. He rehearsed what he hoped was a rueful and inoffensive smile and prepared to turn on his heel to admit he was lost – only to feel a hefty shove from behind.
He stumbled through the open door, which closed behind him. He whirled – and stared at his latest assailant.
Twelve
Caroline! Why are you dressed as a typing girl?’
Caroline Hepworth stood with her back to the door, arms crossed on her chest. She wore a plain white blouse, a severe dark skirt and an expression that could only be described as disapproving.
‘Because I’ve been a typing girl, Aubrey. My team has been practising covert infiltration. I’m in typing, Walter is in the kitchen, Gregory is inspecting plumbing.’
Aubrey made a mental note to introduce himself to Walter and Gregory. To foster esprit de corps, camaraderie, that sort of thing. ‘In an allied embassy?’
Caroline made an impatient noise. ‘The Gallians know we’re here. It’s practice, that’s all. Except...’ She frowned. ‘How well do you know Mattingly?’
‘Elspeth?’
‘When I saw you three blunder in to the embassy, I decided to observe her. For practice.’
‘And it wouldn’t be useful to follow George or me,’ Aubrey said carefully.
‘Don’t be silly, Aubrey.’ Caroline pushed back a stray strand of hair that Aubrey found quite invisible. ‘She was the only option. So with an armful of files I shadowed her as she left you and George blocking up the bottom of the stairs.’
‘She was looking for Captain Bourdin.’
‘That’s what she told you?’
Aubrey wouldn’t have said that Caroline’s slight smile had a hint of triumph, but he wondered if someone else may have.
‘Well, we’d lost him...’
‘She met a man in one of the second-floor offices.’
‘She mentioned that she had a friend at the embassy.’ Aubrey frowned. Hadn’t Elspeth said that her friend was female? And that she worked in the library?
‘She did, did she? And did she mention that this friend would like to shoot you?’
‘Not in as many words, no.’
‘Not in as many words?’
‘Not in any words, actually.’ Aubrey frowned. ‘She met that bald chap?’
‘The cultural attaché. They spoke behind closed doors for a few minutes and then she rejoined you.’
‘Then took us to meet him.’ Aubrey stood still, taking this new datum apart and trying to see how it worked. Why would Elspeth talk to someone who was an assassin? ‘But she shot him, after he tried to shoot me.’
‘It made her look brave, didn’t it? Made her more trustworthy?’ Caroline’s eyes were hard. ‘I’d call that a measure of her ruthlessness.’
‘Elspeth? Ruthless? But she’s so...’
‘Sweet? Kind? Cuddly?’
‘Cuddly? What? Elspeth?’
‘Three questions in a row, Aubrey. You’re on the verge of blustering.’
‘I was going to point out how professional Miss Mattingly has been,’ Aubrey said, so stiffly that he was sure he would turn into wood at any second.
‘I’m sure she has.’
Aubrey had to bite his tongue quite severely to prevent himself from commenting on Caroline’s tone. He had a premonition that such an observation would be a very bad thing indeed. ‘I’ve been keeping a good eye on her.’
‘So I’ve noticed.’
Aubrey hoped that his tongue wasn’t actually bleeding by now. ‘She’s well trained, has useful skills, seems like a fine addition to the security of the nation. I’m sure she has a good reason for talking to that attaché.’
‘No doubt. And I’d like to hear it.’ Caroline straightened. ‘But first I’d like to hear your account of what happened.’
A reasonable, professional request, Aubrey thought, and he launched into what he hoped was a reasonable, professional report about the incident and then about the bomb disposal episode.
‘I see,’ Caroline said when he finished. She pursed her lips, gazed at the ceiling, and tapped a foot. An enchanting display, Aubrey decided. But entirely professional, he hastened to add. To himself.
‘You do?’ Aubrey adjusted a collar that felt a little tight.
‘Your assassin missed. From a distance of a few yards.’
‘You know those cultural attachés. Notoriously poor shots, most of them.’
‘Even the ones who are crack marksmen? I checked his military record. He won the Armand Cup last year.’
‘For shooting, I imagine, rather than fashion.’ Aubrey rubbed his forehead as he remembered. ‘He did seem a little startled. And unhappy with his pistol.’ A spell on it, to make sure he missed?
‘Then Mattingly shot him.’
‘That’s right.’
‘So she ended up looking decisive and competent.’
‘Indisputably.’
‘And you were extraordinarily grateful to her for saving your life.’
‘I appreciated her actions, yes.’
‘I think her actions were intended to inspire more than appreciation. We need to talk to this Miss Mattingly.’ Caroline nodded decisively, then held open the door. ‘Nice haircut, Aubrey.’
Aubrey was excruciatingly aware that the disarming incident he’d undergone in the courtyard was as nothing compared to what he had on his hands here. In a moment of godlike apprehension, he suddenly saw all of the thousand ways he could make this situation worse. Outcomes danced in front of his eyes, where he saw Caroline hurt and bewildered, and, alternatively, him hurt and bleeding. He saw lengthy and inadequate explanations. He saw entreaties. He saw imperious retorts and many, many variations where Caroline stormed off, never to be seen again. Of course, most of these outcomes came from his not doing anything, so he was in the most cleft of cleft sticks that he’d ever been in.
So it was with something more than relief that he greeted the door when it burst open and George when he entered excitedly.
‘Aubrey! Hello, Caroline! Didn’t know you were here. Charming skirt, that. Have you heard the news? The blackguard who took a shot at you, he’s escaped.’
Caroline raised an eyebrow at Aubrey. ‘An interesting development, wouldn’t you say, Aubrey?’
They were eventually able to push through the crowd near the infirmary at the rear of the ground floor, near the conservatory. Gallian excitement had meant that all the important business of preparing for war was suspended while rumour and gossip were passed around with all the authority of the evening newspapers. Everyone wanted to see what was going on.