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“Er…”
“Of course I stood up for you, but they weren’t listening to me,” said Xemerius. “They were saying all information had to be kept from you as far as possible. They thought your ignorance and naivete, the result of an inadequate education, already made you a security risk, and you were also indiscretion personified. Oh, and they’re going to keep an eye on your friend Lesley too.”
“Oh, shit.”
“The good news is that they blame your inadequacies on your mother. Women are always to blame for everything, our friends the mystery mongers all agreed there. And then they started talking about evidence, dressmakers’ bills, letters, sound human understanding, and after a good deal of talk, they agreed that Paul and Lucy had gone back to 1912 with the chronograph and that’s where they’re living now. Though in this case now isn’t quite the right word for it.” Xemerius scratched his head. “Never mind, that’s where the two of them are, anyway, our friends are sure of that, and at the next opportunity your wonderful, strong hero is supposed to track them down, get some of their blood, and bring back the original chronograph while he’s about it. Then off they started from the beginning again, blah blah blah, golden rules, unctuous waffle—”
“Interesting,” I said.
“You think so? Well, if you do, that’s because of my witty and amusing way of summing up all that boring twaddle.”
I opened the door into the next corridor, and I was about to answer Xemerius when I heard a voice. “You’re still just as arrogant as you used to be!”
That was my mum. And sure enough, when I turned the corner, there she was, standing in front of Falk de Villiers with both her fists clenched.
“And you are as pigheaded and obstructive as ever,” Falk was saying. “You’ve done considerable damage to the cause with your attempts—for whatever reason you made them—to cover up the facts about Gwyneth’s birth.”
“The cause! Your precious cause was always more important to all of you than any human beings who got caught up in it!” snapped my mother.
I closed the door as quietly as possible behind me and slowly walked toward them.
Xemerius was working his way along the top of the wall, hand over hand. “Wow, she looks furious.”
He was right. My mum’s eyes were glittering, her cheeks were flushed, and her voice was unusually high. “We agreed that Gwyneth would be kept out of it. Wouldn’t be put in any danger! And now you want her served up to the count on a platter. Although she’s … she’s completely helpless!”
“That’s your own fault,” said Falk de Villiers coldly.
Mum bit her lip. “As Grand Master of this Lodge, you’re responsible!”
“If you’d shown your cards openly from the first, then Gwyneth wouldn’t be unprepared now. For your information, you may be able to deceive Mr. George with your story of wanting to make sure your daughter had a carefree childhood, but you don’t fool me. I am still extremely interested to know what that midwife will have to tell us.”
“You haven’t found her yet?” My mother’s voice wasn’t quite so shrill.
“It’s only a matter of days, Grace. We have our agents everywhere.” Now he noticed that I was there with them, and the cold, angry expression on his face disappeared.
“Why are you alone, Gwyneth?”
“Darling!” My mum rushed to me and gave me a hug. “I thought that before it all went on as late as last night, I’d come and pick you up.”
“And take the opportunity of tearing me off a strip,” added Falk, with a slight smile. “Why isn’t Mr. Marley with you, Gwyneth?”
o;Miss Shepherd doesn’t have a car,” said Xemerius. “She doesn’t even have a driving license, dimwit.”
“No need, I’ll take her upstairs with me.” Gideon picked up the black blindfold.
“Do I really have to wear that thing?”
“Yes, you do.” Gideon tied the scarf together behind my head. As he did so, he caught a couple of my hairs in the knot, and it tweaked them, but I wasn’t going to squeal, so I just bit my lip. “If you don’t know where the chronograph is kept, then you can’t give the secret away, and we won’t find anyone lying in wait for us here when we land in this room some other time.”
“But this cellar belongs to the Guardians, and the ways in and out are always guarded,” I said.
“First, there are more passages in this vault than alleys running past the buildings in the Temple, and second, we can never rule out the possibility that someone in our own ranks might be interested in a surprise meeting.”
“Trust no one. Not even your own feelings,” I murmured. They were all so suspicious here.
Gideon put a hand on my waist and propelled me forward. “Exactly.”
I heard Mr. Marley say good night, and then the door latched behind us. We walked along side by side in silence. There were a lot of things I’d have liked to say, but I didn’t know where to begin.
