‘Does, doesn’t it,’ Jack replied triumphantly, missing her meaning.
When Persey said nothing more he pressed on. ‘Look, I honestly thought you’d be pleased. Do you know …’ he started. ‘That I’ve never really felt …’ He looked embarrassed as to what he was going to say, took a deep breath and continued. ‘I’ve never really felt like much of a man. I’ve never had that chance to be the man of the house. My father was long gone and we came to live here with your family. And until a few years ago when he passed away, your father always made me feel like a son. But of course I never felt as if I had anything to contribute. Not really. I was always aware this house wasn’t mine – it was yours. I know you’d never made Mum feel like “the help”, or that I was just part and parcel of Mum being here. But then, joining up felt like the first real thing I’d ever done. It made me feel like a man, finally. And being chosen to be sent back here with a real task to complete … I can’t tell you how lifting that felt.’
Persey reached out and held his hand.
‘And then I got jolly well stuck here and I’ve felt just the worst ever since my mum got taken by the Germans. But now, I’ve got the chance to actually do something again; something useful. Allow me to do my mum proud. Allow me to do you and Didoproud. Allow me to do your parents proud by getting their daughters the hell off this island.’
Persey smiled, leaned forward and hugged him. ‘Oh, Jack,’ she cried.
‘Steady on, old girl.’ He laughed. He looked over her shoulder as she continued holding him. ‘I say, are those buttons in the fire?’
Behind them the front door closed and Stefan stood in the hallway looking at Persey and Jack by the fire. His face was one of confusion as he took in the scene in front of him. He ignored Jack and said to Persey, ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yes,’ Persey said, standing up but not daring to go towards him. ‘Are you?’
‘Yes.’
Jack looked at each of them in turn before saying, ‘I feel as if the two of you are having a silent conversation I can’t hear. What’s going on?’
When no one spoke, Jack stood up and said, ‘Oh I see. I see it now. How long has this—’ he motioned between Persey and Stefan ‘—been going on?’
‘There is nothing between Persephone and I,’ Stefan said, dragging his gaze away from Persey and angling it towards Jack.
‘But you want there to be something,’ Jack muttered.
‘Yes,’ Stefan admitted and Persey drew in a sharp breath. ‘But that does not mean that there is something.’
‘Persey’s too sensible for that kind of thing,’ Jack said. ‘Aren’t you, Perse? Wouldn’t get involved with a man in that uniform, would you?’
‘No,’ Persey said quickly, all good feelings towards Jack diminishing rapidly. A look of sadness passed over Stefan’s face.
‘Besides, the only good Nazi is a dead one,’ Jack said pointedly.
Persey watched Stefan for his reaction. The only good Nazi was a dead one. Oh, what awful words to choose to say just then. If only Jack knew.
‘Think about what I said.’ Jack touched her on the shoulder. ‘Don’t think about it for too long though.’
The moment Jack left the room, Stefan closed the door gently and looked at Persey. She felt the urgent need to put aside any suspicions he may have. ‘Jack was upset,’ she said. ‘He just needed a friend. I was just holding him as a friend would do. I haven’t told him anything.’
He nodded, indicating he believed her, then lifted a finger to his mouth to signal she should remain quiet. He waited, angling his ear towards the door, waiting for Jack to leave the hallway, then he moved towards her, took her hand and gently pulled her to the settee. ‘I found the soldier,’ he said, still holding her hand. ‘Nobody else was there. I think nobody had found him yet.’
She nodded, her eyes darting to and from each of his anxiously, and he continued. ‘He was not close to the cliff edge and he was not a light man, but in the end … it will look like an accident.’
‘What will?’ she asked in confusion.
‘It will look like he fell.’
‘Fell?’ she frowned and then understood. ‘Oh my God. Did you … did you push him over the edge?’
‘I had to. I did not see what other choice I had. I could not take him anywhere. I could not hide him. And if a soldier goes missing, that would be more suspicious than if he is found at the bottom of a cliff with his bicycle.’
‘But all the blood on the ground at the top?’ she said.
‘I covered it over with gravel. It was the best I could do.’
She nodded and looked down at his hand as it held hers. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. ‘All because of those notes,’ she said.
‘What notes?’ Stefan asked and Persey told him what she’d been delivering to Doctor Durand.
