Chapter 5 #2
Sometimes, she wondered whether the fight itself was killing her more quickly than the work.
By the time she reached the foyer, Alex had vanished from sight.
They’d had to renovate several parts of the estate house to make it suitable as both a hospital and a residential home, but certain spaces still retained their former glory, like the main foyer and grand staircase.
The right wing now served for medical purposes, and the left wing was for residents.
When Ginger and Noah had moved back into the estate, they’d converted one area for their family alone, but they still shared most of the common areas with the women and children they provided housing for, including Victoria Everill and her daughter, Ivy, who’d grown up with Alexander and Clara like a sister.
Funny how Victoria had once been practically Ginger’s rival—and now she was one of her closest friends. Ginger didn’t know how she’d run everything at Penmore without her.
Ginger hung her shawl at a rack near the door, the sound of male voices drifting from the library nearby. Maybe the owner of the motorcar parked in the front?
But if they were in the library, it wasn’t a patient. That room was for the Bensons’ exclusive use—by necessity. More than one book had gone missing after they’d opened their doors to others. Ginger frowned, then headed toward the library.
She caught sight of Noah from the open doorway as he leaned near the fireplace, arms crossed.
Even after sixteen years of marriage, her heart still stumbled when she looked at him.
He’d always been the handsomest man she’d met, of course, but it went much further than that—he was the one person with whom she could be utterly, completely herself.
As though he knew she was staring, he glanced up and caught her gaze, then straightened. “Here’s Ginger now, actually.”
She crossed the threshold into the library, then stopped short. Three more men were in the room—two of which were strangers.
The third was Jack.
Her breath caught, guilt blooming in her chest—ridiculous but reflexive. As though somehow thinking about Jack had summoned him.
The three men stood and Jack stepped away from them, a wan smile on his face. He appeared thinner than she remembered and much more tanned—though it seemed he’d recently shaved a beard from his face, as the skin on his cheeks and strong jawline were lighter there.
“Hello, Red,” Jack said as he stepped closer to her. He pressed a light kiss to her cheek, moving away just as quickly.
Ginger smiled warmly. He’d latched onto that moniker shortly after meeting her because of her bright-red hair. “Jack—what a surprise. You should have let us know you were coming. We would have planned a special dinner.”
“It was a last-minute plan,” Jack said, glancing at the two other men. “Ginger, may I present Alain Roche and Captain Maxwell Knight? Gentlemen, this is Dr. Virginia Benson.”
She glanced between them, a knot of tension forming in her gut.
Alain Roche she’d never heard of, but Maxwell Knight was a different story.
The genteel-looking dapper man with a clean-shaven face and neatly parted hair had a keenly penetrating gaze and a still, poised demeanor.
He was an intelligence man—and had been trying unsuccessfully to recruit Noah for several years now.
Before he could speak, Alain Roche, a tall man who appeared to be in his late forties with jet-black hair, olive skin, and a trim moustache, stepped forward.
“Ah, the famed Dr. Virginia Dar—er, Benson.” He smiled, a twinkle in his brown eyes.
“Pardon. I was reading through your file this morning. You’re a very modern woman, Mrs. Benson.
Operating a country hospital named after your ex-husband. ”
Her heart ticked faster at the slip.
Not a chance he’d done that by mistake. He’d meant to unsettle her not only by calling her Virginia Darby—a name she’d never really used, even when married to Jack—and make a vaguely nasty insinuation about the hospital being named after Jack.
And what did he mean by her file? Was Roche an intelligence man too?
Ginger stiffened, then joined Noah by the fireplace, calling on all the manners and composure she’d been taught in finishing school years ago as she sat on the unoccupied sofa.
She was accustomed to men dismissing or outright insulting her.
Being a lady doctor was bad enough to most of them—but a “divorced” one?
Scandalous. She’d even heard of patients refusing their wives and children to come to her hospital because of it.
But starting off an acquaintance with rudeness? Even the spymasters used to offer tea first. Very un-British. As was Mr. Roche’s accent—which had the soft lilt of French.
“I suppose I am. But if you’ve read my file, Mr. Roche, you should know I don’t tolerate being underestimated. Not by men in suits and certainly not by men with smirks.” She set her hands in her lap. “Please do be seated, gentlemen.”
Relief filled her as Noah sat beside her. She didn’t have to meet his eyes or hear him speak to guess what he was thinking—or that he was likely as concerned as she was.
“A nurse turned spy turned formidable suffragette and lady doctor,” Roche said with a grim smile to Jack. “No wonder you and Benson nearly fell out trying to claim her.”
Insufferable bastard.
“I think that’s quite enough probing into my personal business,” Ginger snapped, glaring at him.
Roche exchanged a glance with Captain Knight. “To be honest, Mrs. Benson, we came to speak to your husband—”
“Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of my wife,” Noah said in a curt tone.
“Not when it’s a matter of national security, unfortunately,” Captain Knight said pleasantly, his eyes locked firmly on Ginger now.
He was dismissing her just as quickly as she’d come.
“Your husband may have left the army and his espionage work years ago, Dr. Benson, but I assure you we’re not quite as finished with him as he might be with us. ”
Ginger frowned, her gaze flicking toward Jack.
She was always glad to see him—but what in the world is going on?
Men—even military ones—never spoke so openly about Noah’s former line of work during the war.
Even Ginger and Noah rarely spoke of it, especially because they hadn’t quite decided what they needed to share with their children and what needed to remain concealed for their innocence and safety.
Jack avoided her eyes.
Noah leaned forward on the sofa. “Sadly, gentlemen, I’m no longer in the business of national security. Or of caring what the army wants from me. So I’d urge caution in including me in the conversation, if that’s the concern.”
“Come now, Major Benson,” Captain Knight said smoothly, “you may have walked away from the military, but your country still needs you—now more than ever, I’d say, now that the Nazi party has taken power in Germany.
Though I agree with Major Benson, Alain.
Mrs. Benson has clearly shown her chops in intelligence.
We shouldn’t discount the service she gave our country during the war. ”
Ginger tilted her chin, giving him a thoughtful look.
Noah had met with Knight on more than one occasion—usually in London—but this was the first time the man had come out to Penmore.
She had a feeling the reason for his presence at this meeting had everything to do with recruiting Noah back into intelligence.
But had they managed to rope Jack into it already? Both Jack and Noah had sworn they’d never set foot in that river again. And though Noah rarely spoke of his experiences during the war, Ginger knew how much that part of his life still affected him. He often woke with nightmares.
Noah straightened. “I won’t speak for my wife, Captain—or waste your time. My position on the matter remains unchanged. While I can appreciate the lengths you’ve gone to in bringing Jack here to persuade me, none of it will make a difference.”
Jack met Noah’s stare, his face softening. “I wouldn’t have brought them here if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. It’s about Alice.”
Alice? The air thinned, and Ginger felt Noah shift beside her. Jack rarely spoke of his estranged sister.
A creak, so soft that Ginger barely heard it, caught her attention.
But it was also familiar. She’d grown up in this house. Knew its creaks and groans.
Her eyes shot to the hidden doorway by one of the bookcases—the one that she and her brother Henry had often used as children and now led directly to her family’s private quarters. The barest hint of a crack there confirmed her suspicion: someone was there, listening.
Alexander.
She struggled for a breath.
Just what had he heard? And how long would it take before he asked the wrong question?