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“Do you remember such a thing? The assassination must have been mentioned in all the newspapers.”
“It may have been talked of at school,” Daniel replied. “I’m afraid I was more interested in cricket when I was eight years old.”
Penelope nodded. “I was too young to know anything about it.” She looked down the page, consulting the code as she went. “Look at this. She’s written ‘Alexander’ in her picture code, with question marks on either side.”
“Isn’t Alexander the name of the tsar now?” They stared at each other, working it out. Then Daniel spoke slowly. “Is she suggesting that he was involved in his father’s murder?”
“Or wondering anyway? It seems so.”
“That would be…” He hesitated to finish the sentence.
“Patricide,” said Penelope. “Treason. Rebellion of a sort. Certainly, it’s a question the tsar would not want raised. And hasn’t Alexander had some troubles with his people? Reformers?”
“I don’t know.” He’d never paid much heed to politics, which his parents must have found shallow, even irresponsible, Daniel realized. Perhaps that was why they never told him anything.
“I begin to see why the government wants these notebooks under their own care,” said Penelope. “This is inflammatory information.”
“Indeed.”
She turned the page, did some more deciphering. “They left Russia soon after that. By ship.”
“Probably a good idea.” Daniel looked at the date on the page. “Late March. That would have been the end of term. I suppose I went to a friend’s for the school holidays. I generally did. And resented the necessity, more often than not. Though not the boys who invited me.” He’d made good friends at school, Daniel thought, and those holidays had been a big part of that. Should he have been more grateful? “I suppose I must admit that the death of a world leader was more important than where I spent my off time.” And yet he couldn’t quite forgive his parents’ long absences even so. He was glad to know they’d been dedicated and performed an important service, but he still wished they’d paid more heed to him.
“Not to a child,” replied Penelope.
“True. Still, I feel a bit petty.”
“If it was me, I might wonder why it had to bemyparents who gathered information. Out of all the people who might have served the British government.”
She’d hit it exactly. “And your answer would be because your mother wished to,” said Daniel. “She dreamed of adventures. Not nursery duty.”
“And whose dreams are more important? The parent’s? Or the child’s?”
Could he choose his own comfort over his mother’s ambitions? Must these two things be in conflict? “I don’t know. Whose?”
“I don’t know either.” Penelope shrugged. “But perhaps it’s a question to consider before one has a child.”
Daniel stiffened. He hadn’t thought about being a father. Only a husband. And yet the one most often followed the other. Without much consideration, as far as he’d seen. It was expected that he would provide an heir to his title and estates. What more could he, would he, have to offer his offspring? “I understand responsibility,” he said, answering his thoughts as well as her remark. “I won’t be running off to Russia or elsewhere at every opportunity. Nor will you.” He felt a stab of anxiety at the idea of her leaving.
“No,” she said.
Daniel’s worry eased without disappearing entirely. She was frowning.
“But parents who stay home have difficulties, too.”
He’d seen that shadow in her eyes before. He knew what she was thinking. “Like your brother?”
“He and Papa could never agree. Not from the time Philip was very young. Yet I can’t say that either was to blame. Not really. They didn’twantto quarrel. It just kept happening. Do you think a parent has any control over how a child turns out?”
It was a daunting idea—that a family could go wrong despite good intentions. And what did he know about happy families? Did he have any chance of creating one of his own? Penelope was gazing at him as if he might produce a solution. But he didn’t have one.
“Though I must say Papa wasn’t very good at listening,” she added. “Once he got going, he could only seem to hear himself. I’ve found that you can get on with most people if you listen to what they have to say. I think it must be the same with children. Don’t you?”
And she was a champion listener, Daniel thought. But would he be good enough? He would learn from her. He nodded, an acknowledgment of her question and a promise to himself for the future.
“I suppose one does the best one can.”
“You’ll be splendid.”
