Word of Honour

Tallis snorted. 'That's what you say. And what has Craddock told you about his research, then?'

Aubrey felt as if he'd been standing on stilts and suddenly had them sawn off underneath him. 'Research? The Magisterium is conducting research?'

'So he hasn't told you about that? Little wonder.

I don't suppose the PM knows either, or the Parliament.'

Tallis smiled a little and shook his head, as if amused at the things people will get up to.

'The Magisterium doesn't do research,' Aubrey repeated. 'It's not part of its charter. It has no research budget.'

'I see. Craddock wouldn't have any unconventional ways of diverting funds, would he?'

Aubrey blinked. He remembered how easily Craddock had found twenty thousand pounds for Count Brandt.

Tallis gazed up at the ceiling. 'In any case, his operatives put their hands on valuable items every day of the week. Seizures of contraband magical artefacts, the sort of thing that would fetch a lovely price in an auction in the Levant.'

'Not something that the Special Services would stoop to,' Aubrey said, in an attempt to wrest back control of the conversation.

'You leave that sort of thing to those that know best. Just to show you what a fair-minded fellow I am, I'll just point out that Darnleigh House is a big place. Much bigger than it looks from the street, am I right?'

Aubrey remembered. 'It goes down a long way. Below street level.'

'Four levels. Officially, that is. Plenty of room for research labs down there, even if you don't count the other two levels.'

'Other two?'

'You weren't aware of them? Doesn't surprise me. Not many are. Just Craddock and a few of his inner circle. Special access. Guarded twenty-four hours a day. It's where Craddock's most top secret stuff happens, by all accounts.'

'And how would you know all this?'

'Now, that's something I can't tell you. It's a secret of my own. Suffice to say, I'm in the intelligence game. And looking out for my own back means knowing what people like Craddock are up to.'

'You're not asking me to spy on the Magisterium.'

'Of course not. I just want you to be aware, to have the whole picture. If matters change, you'll be able to make considered decisions.' He narrowed his eyes. 'Just be careful of that Rokeby-Taylor.'

'I've already had my suspicions about him.'

'Good. He's a Magisterium informant, very important to them. Which means you can't trust him.'

WITH A SERIES OF GLANCES AND GESTURES, CAROLINE insisted Aubrey keep his silence during the entire motorcar trip to Maidstone.

It was only when the Special Services driver left the gates and they were standing alone at the elegant front entrance of the house that Caroline looked around and – finally satisfied – relented.

'Do you recall Commander Craddock's telling Manfred he'd give all that money to Count Brandt?'

'A fortune, it seemed to me,' Aubrey said.

'Yes.' She pursed her lips and frowned. 'It's just that Commander Tallis told me he was organising a similar amount for Count Brandt and his friends.'

'A double fortune,' George said, impressed.

'That's not all,' Aubrey said. 'Since we're talking about double games, both Tallis and Craddock think that Rokeby-Taylor is working for the other.'

'Good Lord,' George said. 'This whole situation is getting stickier and stickier.'

Fifteen

AT DINNER THE NEXT DAY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH A Fitzwilliam tradition that went back to when Lady Rose first joined the family, it was her turn to sit at the head of the table. Sir Darius sat at the other end. George and Aubrey were on one side, Caroline on the other, with Lady Maria next to her.

Naturally, Aubrey was pleased that his mother had asked Caroline. As far as he was concerned, she made any occasion more delightful. The dinner also gave him a chance to put aside his thinking about the dizzyingly complex situation they'd found themselves in with Craddock, Tallis, Manfred and Brandt.

Lady Rose didn't take long before her opening salvo. Soup had barely arrived before she pointed her butter knife at Aubrey – but addressed Caroline. 'I think you're far too forgiving, Caroline, consenting to associate with Aubrey again.'

'Thank you, Lady Rose. I do wonder about myself, sometimes.'

'It's all right, Mother,' Aubrey said. 'We've worked things out.'

'I'm glad to hear it,' Sir Darius said. 'And it appears as if the arrangements are amicable, at least. Now, dear, I think we should move on. How are things at the museum?'

Lady Rose attacked her roll. 'Darius, that's the sort of question you only ask when you want to divert matters, and I'm going to make you suffer by telling you.'

So through the soup and almost until the end of the salad course, Lady Rose entertained the table with her scurrilous opinions of the board of the museum and most of the directors. 'Tin-pot dictators, all of them,' she finished. 'They wouldn't know a specimen if it jumped up and bit them. And with the lack of funds spent in conserving some of our pieces, I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened.'

'It's never a place for a lady,' Lady Maria said severely, 'and especially not a Fitzwilliam lady.'

'Thank you, Lady Maria,' Lady Rose said. 'I agree. It needs much more money spent on it before it would be fit. Darling,' she said down the length of the table, 'how is that bill going, the one with an increased budget for the Albion Museum?'

'I wouldn't know, dear. Arm's length, that sort of thing. I put it Marlow's way. The museum falls under his purview.'

Lady Maria was vexed at how she'd been outflanked. She looked as if she'd been on the verge of winning a point, but the long rally had somehow turned around. Of course, the signs of her irritation were minute, and only someone as long accustomed to her as Aubrey could see exasperation in the way she dabbed twice at each corner of her mouth with her napkin. A slight narrowing of her eyes, however, indicated she had something up her sleeve.

'And the Rashid Stone, Darius,' she said. 'I see posters around the city, saying that the stone is on display for the last time before it leaves Albion for good. Surely you're not really letting the Holmlanders claim it.'

Sir Darius grimaced. Lady Rose bridled. Aubrey was prepared to grant Lady Maria a point for a very fine serve.

'It's appalling,' Lady Rose said, finally managing to put together words. 'The museum has had the Rashid Stone for a hundred and fifty years. And now the Holmlanders want it back?'

Aubrey had seen the Rashid Stone, years ago. Covered with indecipherable inscriptions, it was an object of great antiquity, and great mystery.

'It belongs to them,' Sir Darius said. 'At least, under international law. It was taken from Aigyptos, which is a Holmland colony.'

'Colony,' Caroline said. 'Isn't that a polite word for a place that has been taken over and exploited by bullies?'