William waited for their reaction. He had told them everything. They all knew about Isobel, The Classical Beauties, and James Turney.
He felt relieved that it was over. One less anxiety, but he had risked a lot by being so forthcoming. The Brotherhood’s Constitution insisted on absolute openness in dealings with the Russian White, and his actions were a betrayal of that trust.
Doctor Hood already knew the details, of course, and he hoped for his support. Buffrey could be persuaded to follow whichever argument seemed the strongest, but The Chief’s response depended on his mood, and this evening his mood was mercurial, his mind preoccupied with the imminent outbreak of war.
William feigned indifference to the silence, and glanced up at the diamond glittering on the mantelpiece. The reflected firelight played across its surface in shades of fluttering red. Well, he mused, if it could speak, now would be its chance.
The Chief’s face had frozen into one of amazement, but it was he who broke the silence first. “Well William. This is—unbelievable.”
“Unbelievable that your sister is a part of all this,” agreed Buffrey.
William maintained his demeanour of cool detachment. “Understand Chief that I had to be sure of Isobel’s involvement before presenting my findings to you.” His voice echoed round the room, and he hoped that its volume covered his unease.
“Our family has endured much scandal in recent months and if these events became known, before my investigations were complete, the newspapers would have a field day.”
“That’s true,” Buffrey nodded. “William’s sister taking her clothes off in public, for money. Imagine!”
“I understand your concerns.” The Chief’s hard gaze fixed on the carpet. His furrowed brow lined his face in dark shadow. “But you have made a mockery of us all and everything that The Brotherhood stands for.”
William had expected his sense of shock, but now he had to gauge and temper The Chief’s rising anger.
“There are four of us,” The Chief growled. “Just four of us William, sworn to keep the Russian White secret and safe.” His head snapped up, his glare sharp and fixed. “How dare you undertake a course of action that might jeopardise its safety.”
“I thought you said that the Russian White was of no importance anymore.” Hood rested his head on one languid hand.
“Don’t be stupid,” The Chief retorted. “And don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t be saying.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’m just reminding you of your earlier statement. You said, it has no importance in Russian politics now, and all the Church wants it for is the money.”
The Chief punched his fist into his open palm. “It has symbolic power. Its return to Russia has the potential to ignite civil war between the Church and the State, with possibly cataclysmic results for all of Europe and The Empire.”
“Most Orthodox Russians have forgotten that the Russian White even exists,” Hood drawled.
“How do you know that?”
“Well if you hadn’t set eyes on something for over two centuries, wouldn’t you forget about it?”
Buffrey squirmed, and his chair squeaked. “But Hood, you said that if the Russian Church got it back, they would use it to stoke up religious fervour to overthrow the Tsar. I remember you saying it.”
“Quite right Buffrey, so I did, how observant. Pity The Chief wasn’t listening at the time, he thought it irrelevant, though perhaps he’s changed his mind now?”
The Chief clasped his hands behind his back. “I didn’t know what William was about to tell us then, did I?”
Hood smirked. “True. I suppose that does put the situation into a wider perspective.”
“Meaning?”
Hood rose nimbly out of his chair and crossed to the fireplace. He peered at the diamond, his lips almost touching the stone. The diamond’s faceted surface reflected the tip of his nose, and repeated it over and over again.
“I have a confession to make too. Now Chief, don’t be angry, but William told me about his sister several weeks ago. In fact I helped him catch her. He needed somewhere secure and my Hospital was the obvious choice. I was happy to oblige. All in the service of the Russian White you understand. In fact James and his Russian friend are still in St. Bethlehem’s.”
William watched The Chief’s face lurch from disbelief, to astonishment, to unbelieving amazement. If he fitted, would Hood be able to revive him? Buffrey too, had the surprised look of a shocked trout.
“Two little conspirators.” Menace sharpened The Chief’s reaction. “I might have guessed.”
Hood blew on the diamond and clouded its surface. “It’s out in the open now.”
“I can always rely on you to be a knife in the dark.”
The Chief’s humour rarely revelled in sarcasm. William spoke swiftly to diffuse the tension.
“I asked him to help me. It was a deliberate flouting of The Brotherhood’s rules, I admit that, but I didn’t want to drag all of you into something that might easily be resolved within my family.”
The Chief roared. “So make The Brotherhood redundant will you? Two centuries of carefully constructed subterfuge dismissed with a flick of the fingers.”
William took a deep quiet breath. If he could twist his story enough, he might just appease him. “All I will say in my defence is that my situation was delicate. My investigations needed stealth and secrecy.”
“But that is the very reason why The Brotherhood exists,” The Chief boomed. “The whole purpose of it is to be devious and misleading.”
William acknowledged this fact with a slow deferential bow. He refused to be scared, and continued in his quiet deliberate way.
“I thought it unnecessary to burden The Brotherhood with knowledge which might in the end turn out to be inaccurate.” He traced the toe of his boot around the carpet’s swirling pattern. “And unimportant.”
“Exactly Chief.” Doctor Hood spun round and faced the room. “Keeping the Russian White safe was our most important consideration. And it is safe, as you can see. But remember Chief, you said at our last meeting that the Russians were bolder, unwilling to talk under questioning. Now we know why. It was because of William’s sister. Her involvement has opened the door to the English aristocracy which the Russians have never been able to infiltrate before, and with new leads they’ve started picking up the scent. Of course they’re not going to divulge any new knowledge, because they’re closing in on the diamond, and if William hadn’t set a trap to catch his sister, well, there is every reason to believe that they would have got it.”
Buffrey’s chair squeaked as he shifted his bulky figure. “They are closer than we think.”
William grasped the opportunity of deflecting The Chief’s anger by acknowledging his own show of anger and outrage. “I feel sick and disgusted with her.”
“But she escaped from Parklands.” The Chief’s face resembled carved granite.
“Yes, dam her.” He leapt up, grasped the fire tongs and stoked the dying fire. This was his chance to load all the blame onto Isobel. “I locked the room. I had the one and only key, but she still managed to get out. My guess is that she will head for London and try to reach James.”
“Then leave him with me,” sneered Hood. “Let her come to Bedlam, I’ll catch her.”
“I want to talk to this James.” The Chief joined him by the fire.
“He’s tough. He’s not co-operating,” Hood replied.
“Did he target you sister deliberately William?” asked The Chief. “Did he know where the diamond was already?”
“She met him in France, she said.” He stoked harder, encouraging the flames into life. “By chance, I think, but I can’t be certain.”
“The increase in Russian activity is because of her involvement,” Hood repeated. “I’m sure of it.”