Sixty Days to Live

'We need not worry about that till the end of June,' Gervaise reminded them grimly. 'And, if the world is still in existence then, I'm prepared to face any prosecution that may result from this business.'

Hemmingway's shrewd eyes were veiled for a moment by the lowering of his lazy eyelids. 'There won't be any prosecution. Fink-Drummond would never dare to bring one. We'd tell the whole story in court and show that none of us had benefited personally in any way by his disappearance. We might be fined a farthing damages but he'd be hounded out of the country. Let's get on with the job and think of a man we can trust who's got a plane. We ought to fake his departure this evening.'

'Rupert Brand will do that for us,' said Sam. 'I'm sure we can rely on him and he's got a big private plane at his place down at Cobham. He'll have to disappear, too, for the time being and you, Hemmingway, must arrange to get the story of their sudden departure in tomorrow's papers.'

'That's easy. I can fix it through the usual channels we tap for special business, without anyone being the wiser.'

Gervaise pushed a cushion under Fink-Drummond's head, and said: 'We'd better get back to the others now. They must be wondering what on earth has happened to us. I'll lock this door and attend to our prisoner myself when all the guests and hired staff have gone. I can leave the rest to you two, I take it?'

Sam nodded. 'I'll tackle Rupert and he and Hemmingway can make all the other arrangements between them. If there were anything I could do that they can't, I'd put off my honeymoon; but, as it is ...'

'My dear fellow, you mustn't dream of such a thing.' Gervaise patted him kindly on the shoulder and the three men left the room together.

In the hall Sam paused. 'You'd better find Rupert. Hemmingway, and bring him out here. If I go back into the drawing-room, I shall be surrounded by the crowd.'

As Hemmingway hurried off, Lavina appeared, with Margery beside her. 'Why, there you are!' she exclaimed, as she saw Sam and her father. 'Everybody's been wondering wherever you two had got to.'

Gervaise smiled. 'We've been having a little private celebration. I'm sorry to have robbed you of Sam but you see it's a new and very pleasant experience for me to have a son.'

She kissed him quickly. 'It makes me very happy that you like each other, darling. I'm just going up to change.'

'You'd better go up and change, too,' Margery admonished Sam. 'You mustn't keep the bride waiting.'

Sam gave her an amiable grin. 'It won't take me as long as it will Lavina, but I'll be up in a minute.'

The two girls had just disappeared round the bend of the stairs when Hemmingway returned with Rupert Brand.

'Listen, Rupert,' Sam plunged in right away, 'I'm going to ask you to do something pretty big for us. You may think us crazy but we want you to take that private plane of yours up tonight and disappear in it for six or seven weeks.'

The devil you do!' exclaimed Rupert. 'To put it mildly, that's a most extraordinary request.'

'We're in an extraordinary situation and we're counting on you to help us. It's a matter which may affect the welfare of the whole nation. I really mean that.'

'Well, if you put it that way. Is this M.I.5, or something?'

'No. The three of us are acting absolutely unofficially. In fact, we're even risking prosecution for conspiracy and, later on, it's possible that you might be called on to answer some pretty tricky questions. But Hemmingway will give you the details and I think when you hear them you'll agree that this job has simply got to be done. I must go up and change now, and all I can add is that I do beg you to give us your assistance.'

Rupert brushed up his small, fair Gtiardee moustache with the knuckle of his first finger. 'Well, it's going to be hellishly inconvenient—and there's Conchita to be thought of; but I'm game to listen to anything Hemmingway's got to say.'

'Right,' said Hemmingway. 'Let's go out into the garden where we can't be overheard.'

Gervaise nodded. 'That would be best. I'll go back and look after our guests while you change, Sam.'

As they strolled up and down the newly mown lawn in the May sunshine, Hemmingway gave Rupert particulars of what had happened.

When Hemmingway had done, Rupert said slowly: 'I see the necessity for covering the disappearance of that swine, Fink-Drummond, all right. But there are a lot of snags to doing it the way you suggest.'

'Let's hear them.'

'Well, to start with, there's Conchita. We'd arranged to be married on the first of June. And to ask me to postpone our wedding is pretty tough on both of us.'

'That certainly is a nasty one,' Hemmingway agreed, 'but it's a purely personal matter and we're asking you to make this big sacrifice in the service of your country.'

Rupert grunted angrily. 'Damn it, man, you don't have to tell me that!'

'What I'm really concerned about,' Hemmingway went on smoothly, 'is how you're fixed officially. If you're committed to the Service in any way, you couldn't just flit off into the blue without obtaining leave. To do so would create immediate suspicion that the whole job was phony.'

'Oh, you needn't worry about that. I resigned from the Coldstream six months ago, so I'm my own boss these days. Of course, there's my job with the Akers Wentworth people. I'm testing the new Akers "Eagle" fighter, but there's nothing to prevent my taking on a private engagement to fly a man like Fink-Drummond out to catch a ship off the west coast of Ireland. If we left tonight, I should normally be back tomorrow morning and, if I failed to return, the assumption would be that the plane had crashed and we'd both been drowned at sea. That would be just too bad. But there's nothing that any-: body could do about it.'

'Well, that's exactly what I want. And it takes a whale of a load off my mind to know you're free to do it.'

'That's all damned fine! But what about Conchita?'

Hemmingway considered for a moment. 'The best thing we can do is to call her in on this, and see what she's got to say herself. Let's go and get her.'

They turned back and walked quickly up the slope to the french windows of the long drawing-room on the south side of the house. Conchita was talking to some people by the buffet, but Rupert succeeded in getting her away, and, once the three of them were out in the garden, Hemmingway told all over again the story of Fink-Drummond's activities.

'I refuse to be separated from Rupert for all that time,' she said, when Hemmingway had finished. 'You see, for the first time in my life I'm really in love, and I couldn't bear the thought of being parted from him even for a week.'

Hemmingway shot her an anxious look. 'I know we're asking an incredibly hard thing of you, but there's so much at stake, and none of us know an airman we could trust with such an important secret, except Rupert.'

Her generous mouth twitched with amusement. 'I do understand how much is at stake, so therefore he shall go—but I intend to go with him.'

'Would you?' exclaimed Rupert, his face lighting up.

'Why not, darling? Do you not think it would be rather fun for us to elope?'

'By love! And tonight, as ever was.'

'Tonight, my sweet. We will pass out of this so stupid social world, and go into hiding together for just as long as you like.'

Hemmingway smiled at her. 'Well, now, isn't that just splendid!'

'It'll be the most glorious adventure of my life,' Rupert cried, 'and I've had a few already, But we're not out of the wood yet, by a long chalk. Where are we going to on this honeymoon of ours?'

'Anywhere you like,' Hemmingway said airily.

'That's not so easy. Surely you realise that planes are labelled and numbered, just like cars, these days; and my big beauty is a special model which plenty of air people would recognise on sight. We've got to land somewhere; and, whatever airport we chose, our landing would be reported. It would be known jn England a few hours later, and that would upset the entire apple-cart.'