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“Hold a fan? Dance? How to behave when the Prince Regent is in the room?”
“Exactly!”
“Oh, yes, I can teach you that,” said James.
“Great,” I said, and was turning to go. “Oh, and James? Can you fence as well? With a sword?”
“Of course,” said James. “I don’t wish to boast, but I am considered one of the best fencers in town by my friends at the club. Galliano himself says I have a considerable talent.”
“Super!” I said. “You’re a real friend.”
“You want that ghost to teach you fencing?” Lesley had been following our conversation with interest. Of course she’d only been able to hear my side of it. “Can a ghost hold a sword?”
o;Mm, yes,” I said uncertainly. I couldn’t quite sort out this theory of his descent. “But I think there’s something in the Transylvanian theory too. It can’t be coincidence that that man Rakoczy comes from Transylvania.”
“I’ll do some more research into him,” Lesley promised. “Oh, watch out!” The door outside the cubicles swung, and someone came into the girls’ toilets. She—at least, we assumed it was a she—went into the cubicle next to ours to use the loo. We kept perfectly still until she had gone again.
“Without washing her hands,” said Lesley. “Yuck. I’m glad I don’t know who that was.”
“No paper towels left,” I said. My legs were getting pins and needles. “Do you think we’ll be in trouble? Mrs. Counter is sure to notice we’re missing. And if she doesn’t, then someone will tell on us.”
“All the students look the same to Mrs. Counter—she doesn’t notice anything. She’s called me Lilly since Year Seven, and she gets you mixed up with Cynthia, of all people. No, listen, this is more important than geography. You must be as well prepared as possible. The more you know about your enemies, the better.”
“I only wish I knew who my enemies are.”
“You can’t trust anyone,” said Lesley, just like my mother. “If we were in a film, the villain would turn out to be the least-expected person. But as we aren’t in a film, I’d go for the character who tried to strangle you.”
“But who set those men in black on us in Hyde Park? It can’t have been the count! He needs Gideon to visit the other time travelers and get a drop of their blood so as to close the Circle.”
“Yes, so he does.” Lesley chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. “But maybe there are several villains in this film. I mean, Lucy and Paul could also be the baddies. Well, they stole the chronograph. And what about the man in black who stands outside number eighteen?”
I shrugged. “He was there this morning, same as usual. Why? Do you think he’ll suddenly whip out a sword?”
“No, I think he’s more likely to be one of the Guardians, standing there in that silly way just on principle.” Lesley turned back to her folder. “I couldn’t find out anything about the Guardians themselves, by the way. They seem to be a very secret lodge indeed. But some of the names you mentioned—Churchill, Wellington, Newton—were Freemasons too. So we can assume that both secret societies had at least some connection. Oh, and I didn’t find out anything on the Internet about a boy called Robert White who drowned, but you can look up all the editions of the Times and the Observer for the last forty years in the library. I’m sure I’ll find something there. What else? Oh yes, mountain ash tree, sapphire, raven.… Well, of course you can interpret that in all sorts of different ways, but with this mysterious stuff, everything can always mean anything, which means nothing is certain. We must try to go by the facts and not all these fantastic ideas. You’ll have to find out more, particularly about Lucy and Paul and why they stole the chronograph. They obviously know something that the others don’t know. Or don’t want to. Or that they have very different ideas about.”
The door opened again. This time the footsteps were firm and energetic. And they were coming straight toward the door of our cubicle.
“Lesley Hay and Gwyneth Shepherd, come out of there at once and go back to your class!”
At first Lesley and I were stunned. Then Lesley said, “You do know these are the girls’ toilets, don’t you, Mr. Whitman?”
“I’ll count to three,” said Mr. Whitman. “One…”
We’d opened the door before he reached “three.”
“I’ll have to note this on your records,” said Mr. Whitman, looking at us like a very stern squirrel. “I am very disappointed in you. You in particular, Gwyneth. The fact that you’ve taken your cousin’s place doesn’t mean you can do or not do exactly as you like. Charlotte never neglected her schoolwork.”
“Yes, Mr. Whitman,” I said. This authoritarian attitude wasn’t at all like him. He was usually so charming and only ever a tiny bit sarcastic.
“Now, off you go to your class.”
“How did you know where we were?” asked Lesley.
Mr. Whitman did not reply. He reached out his hand for Lesley’s folder. “And for now, I’m confiscating this.”
“Oh, no, you can’t!” Lesley clutched the folder close to her breast.
“Give it to me, Lesley!”
