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‘Indeed?’
‘Don’t you indeed me! You…you…’ I took a deep breath, preparing to speak the incredible truth. All this time…and I had no idea, and he…he…
‘You were behind it,’ I whispered. ‘Every single time. Every single man. It was always you. You and your sabre-swinging thug!’
From behind me, Karim made a noise that sounded as if he were about to protest against his newest nickname. Whirling around, I shot him one single glare and raised a warning finger. That was more than enough to shut him up. I whirled back to Mr Ambrose, who was sitting in his armchair, regarding me over steepled fingers, cool as a cucumber in the supply hold of a sunken arctic exploration ship.
‘It was you!’ I stabbed an accusing finger at the fiend. ‘Don’t you try to deny it!’
‘Deny it?’ He cocked his head, still regarding me so infernally unperturbed over his steepled fingers. ‘Why would I wish to deny it?’
I opened my mouth - and closed it again.
‘Because…because…well, how about because it’s illegal, for a start!’
‘I’m not in the habit of begging, but still, I beg to differ, Mr Linton.’
I stared at him. The nerve of the man…! ‘Making people disappear isn’t illegal?’
‘No. Not if you get the men you wish to disappear drunk, and you then leave them conveniently in the path of a press gang looking for new brave recruits for our great nation’s Royal Navy. I have a little arrangement with a certain captain that…well, let’s just say that, over the past few years, I have contributed considerably to the growth of our country’s proud fleet.’
‘That’s…that’s…’
‘Patriotic?’
‘Despicable! Immoral! Horrifying!’
‘I didn’t hear you complaining at the time. In fact, I seem to remember a certain person whose name I won’t mention singing and dancing through my office, overwhelmed with joy that her suitor was no longer-’
My ears suddenly burned. ‘That’s beside the point!’
‘On the contrary.’ His dark, stormy eyes bored into me. ‘I’d say it is the point.’
‘What about Lieutenant Ellingham and Captain Carter?’ I demanded. ‘Are you going to try and pass that off as patriotism, too? They already were in the military! They were both British Army officers!’
/> ‘Well, then I suppose it was time for a career change to the Navy. I hear sea air is healthy.’
‘You…you…! I…I’m going to-’
‘-thank me?’ He gave a magnanimous wave. An absolute monarch couldn’t have done better. ‘No need. A bit of free overtime will do. You can stay an hour longer in the office for six months. That will do.’ And, with another little wave, he dismissed me and picked up his file again.
Thank him?
Thank him?
Oh, I was going to…
‘What. About. Captain. Carter?’ I repeated, every word leaving my mouth as if pushed out between grinding millstones. ‘What about today? Do you see me dancing with joy today? Do you think I’d want to thank you for today?’
The file froze in mid-air.
‘No.’ Those dark, sea-coloured eyes of his fixed on me again, turning even stormier, a hurricane forming in their depths. ‘Which leads me to wonder…why is that? What is so special about the captain?’
My breath caught. I tried, tried desperately to think of something to say, but under that intense gaze, my mind froze and my heart melted away.
Pull yourself together Lilly! You’re a strong, independent woman! Even if every bone in your body doesn’t feel like being one, you are!
‘Why?’ I whispered. ‘Why did you hurt him?’
