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“If you ask me, you’d have done better not to roll about in any haystacks with him,” said Xemerius. “Now he thinks you’re easy pickings, so he won’t go to any more trouble.”
“Shut up, Xemerius. You’re getting on my nerves with all this talk about haystacks. We kissed a bit, that’s all.”
“No reason to go beet red, darling.”
I put my hands to my glowing cheeks, feeling cross with myself. “Come on, let’s go. I’m hungry. At least I have a chance of getting some supper today. And maybe on our way we can catch a glimpse of these mysterious men from the Inner Circle.”
“I wouldn’t bother if I were you. I’ve been listening in on them all afternoon,” said Xemerius.
“Oh, good! Tell me more.”
“Boring, boring, boring. I thought they’d be drinking blood out of skulls and painting mysterious runes on their arms. No such luck. They just sat about in suits and ties, talking.”
“What about?”
“Let’s see if I can still remember.” He cleared his throat. “Basically it was whether they could break their own golden rules to outwit Black Tourmaline and Sapphire. Great idea, said some of them. Nope, no way, said others. Then the first lot said, But we must, you cowards, or we’ll never get anywhere with saving the world, and the second lot said no, terrible thing to do, also dangerous, what about the continuum and morality, and the first lot said, Yes, but never mind all that if it means saving the world. Then there was a lot of unctuous waffle—I think I slept through most of that. But then they all agreed that unfortunately Diamond is inclined to act on his own initiative, while Ruby seems to be a little idiot, unsuitable for time-travel missions Operation Opal and Operation Jade on account of being too stupid. Are you with me so far?”
“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?”
