Chapter 25 #2
“Are you threatening me, Mr. Osborne?” The day no longer felt hopeful, the red sun beating on the back of her neck despite her hat. Her pulse pounded.
“Treason and sedition are very serious charges, Lady Virginia. If I have but even the slightest suspicion you’re helping Benson, I’ll have no other choice.
” Osborne stepped back, a congenial smile returning to his face.
“But it won’t come to that. Because we’ve come to an arrangement.
I have a much bigger fish to catch. You’ll find I can be an extremely understanding man when necessary. ”
She gaped at him, unsure how to respond. He’d gone from appearing like a stuttering, incompetent neophyte to someone who terrified her in a matter of seconds.
Mr. Osborne checked his watch. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Be punctual.” With a tip of his hat, he started the other way.
Thoroughly chilled, Ginger watched him go. Her hands trembled. How could she have been so fooled by his character? She’d thought him agreeable. Even pleasant.
She rushed down the pavement, desperate to put space between herself and Osborne.
A protective feeling came over her as Groppi’s came into view. Ginger was determined to keep her family safe from men like Osborne, who wouldn’t hesitate to use a deep secret to manipulate her.
Well, she wasn’t about to let him. She’d tell her family the truth herself, if it came to it.
But how on earth would she ever be able to admit she’d killed Henry? They would hate her for it.
Her worries must have showed on her face when she arrived at the table in the garden of Groppi’s. William stood, alarmed. “My dear Cousin Ginger—are you well?”
“Quite well, thank you.” Her face had a habit of turning a bit too bright red when she was distressed or embarrassed, one downside of being a redhead.
She sat, fanning herself with her gloved hand.
“The walk was a bit more strenuous than I expected.” She lifted the glass of water at her place setting, thankful that it was there.
“Who was the beau?” Lucy looked up from her tea with interest. A warm breeze brought the fresh scent of baked bread, cardamom, honey, and other savory spices.
While she’d told her mother about the situation with the concession, Lucy didn’t need to know anything about the matters that plagued their family from the past. It would only put her in danger.
“Peter Osborne, with the Foreign Office. But he’s just a casual acquaintance.
Just inviting me for a picnic with some of the other nurses. ”
“A picnic for the nurses?” William gave an amused look. “War life in Cairo is much more adventurous than at home. Camel rides in the Sahara, the pyramids by moonlight, plus all the delightful places we saw in Alexandria. And nurses and officers everywhere at these sights.”
Ginger drew a calming breath and sipped the cool water again.
“Many of the nurses and soldiers who have been ordered here never would have been able to travel to places like these in their lifetimes, let alone have the access that they do. Besides”—she set her glass down with a bit more force than she intended—“we all need some distraction from the horrors faced daily.”
William sobered. “Quite right. I apologize. I didn’t mean to suggest the war has been pleasant here.”
She shouldn’t have displaced her anger onto William, but she couldn’t help it. She was still seething from her conversation with Osborne.
“Well, I for one would love to go back to England.” Lucy slathered cream on a scone. A dry smudge of crumbs beaded on her lips.
“If I might ask, why didn’t you return earlier?” William directed his question to her mother. He shifted in his seat, and his knee bumped against Ginger’s.
Ginger said nothing. His knee brushed against hers again and her breath stilled. Was he being flirtatious?
She shifted her leg back, to leave more space between them.
Her mother’s lips pressed together as she considered William’s question.
She lifted the porcelain teacup in front of her.
“When Edmund was first ordered to Egypt, officers and diplomats were encouraged to bring their wives and families. Soon there was an influx of wives here, which made for quite the social scene—but then the disastrous campaign at the Dardanelles began and the practice was outlawed, in part because of the many troops stationed here. But those of us who were already here were forbidden to leave.”
“Because of the danger to passenger liners after Lusitania?” William asked with interest.
“In part. The navy has enough trouble keeping their vessels and hospital ships safe, let alone passenger liners.” Her mother gave him a taut smile, her gaze traveling to the street vendors who passed in front of Groppi’s.
“Oh, William, dearest,” her mother said, “there’s a vendor over there with head scarves. Can you and Lucy pick one out for me? I’d like to have one for our trip to Gezira this afternoon.”
“Of course, Lady Braddock.” William scrambled to his feet, setting his serviette down.
“You’re going to Gezira Island?” Ginger hadn’t heard of her family’s plans, and she felt oddly disappointed. Not only to not have been included but because she would have enjoyed going with them on the outing. She ran her fingers along the soft folds of the serviette in her lap.
“Isn’t it marvelous? All the best neighborhoods are in Gezira.” Lucy beamed at William. “And then tomorrow we have dinner at the palace.” She took his arm as they left the table together.
Maybe William really was growing on her younger sister.
“Dinner at the palace?” Ginger raised a brow. Only a few weeks down in Cairo, William was already settling in well.
“You’re invited too, of course. The new sultan issued an invitation for all society members weeks ago. I didn’t think at the time you would be available.” Her mother’s face sobered. She looked Ginger directly in the eye. “What happened with that man who was following you?”
Her mother’s astuteness was unsurprising to her by now. Ginger poured herself a cup of tea, and the steam rose toward her face. “I work for Mr. Osborne.” The aromatic scent of the tea leaves comforted her. “He’s not the nicest man.”
“Work for him … how?”
Ginger kept her gaze down, knowing her mother wouldn’t like the answer. “In intelligence. Trying to find the concession. That’s why I came to Cairo.”
“Oh, Ginger.” Her mother bit her lip. “You know what we went through with your father.”
“Only too well, Mama, and unfortunately, that’s why they approached me.”
Her mother paled. “Have you made any progress on the matter?”
Ginger lowered her voice, aware of the proximity of neighboring café patrons. “Not much. I stopped in to see Mr. Brandeis. He told me of the various properties father had throughout Egypt and in Malta?”
Her mother looked anxiously out toward the street, as though to make certain William and Lucy were still occupied. “The properties are in your name. Brandeis thought it best for us to wait to sell them until William had arrived and we’d settled the estate completely.”
“But why in Malta?” Ginger’s eyes wandered through the sea of uniforms present at Groppi’s. How often had she come here with other QAs, like Beatrice? She missed those simpler times.
“Your father helped round up the Egyptian nationalists that were exiled and imprisoned on Malta after the beginning of the war. He was in Malta so often, he ended up purchasing a home to stay in.”
“Father helped to round up the nationalists?” She hadn’t ever heard him speak of it. Once again she felt as though he had hidden so much from her. How well had she really known her father?
“He rather disliked the task.” Her mother wrinkled her nose. “But your father disliked many things he was assigned to do over the years.” She shook her head, clearing the memories away like cobwebs in her mind. “At any rate, I take it Mr. Brandeis was of no more use to you than he was to me?”
Ginger hesitated. She didn’t know how much to tell her mother but her mother might help smooth things over with Lady Hendricks.
“Actually, I learned a few more details. Apparently, Father gave the concession to a Freddy Mortimer. Mortimer was to take the concession to a safe location and then bring back information about where he’d taken it. He never returned.”
Her mother’s eyes widened. “That’s why Lady Hendricks gave you the cold shoulder.”
“Then you know about him? Lucy told me later about the rumors—”
“Tell me you have said nothing to Lucy.” Her mother’s hand shot out toward Ginger.
“Of course not. I made up an excuse about why I needed to speak to Lady Hendricks.” The waiter arrived, carrying a plate of sandwiches, which he set on the table. Ginger watched him leave. “Do you remember Mr. Mortimer? Mr. Brandeis said Father knew him well.”
“Unfortunately, your father never introduced us.” Her mother’s lips hinted at a smile. “I heard he was quite handsome. Given his reputation with Lady Hendricks, I think Edmund wasn’t eager for me to meet him.”
“Well, that’s where my inquiries ended. Lady Hendricks won’t accept my invitations or apologies or return my notes.” Ginger sighed and selected a sandwich from the tray. “I’m not sure where to go from here.”
“Oddly enough, Lady Hendricks didn’t answer my note yesterday either. I suppose she thought I was attempting a meeting on your behalf.”
The cheerful sounds of people chatting and laughing, spoons clinking against porcelain, felt incongruous to Ginger’s conversation with her mother.
Her mother glanced over Ginger’s head, toward the street. “William and Lucy are on their way back. We’ll have to discuss this further when we return from Gezira.”
Lucy arrived and held a light-blue scarf toward her mother. “I bought this for you.” Then she turned and handed Ginger a beautifully embroidered cream scarf. “And this is from William for you.”
Ginger took the scarf. Much as she was touched by the gesture, it was just one more thing she owed him. “This is beautiful. Thank you, William.”
“My pleasure. I only wish you were going to Gezira with us.” William held Ginger’s gaze. She’d avoided him recently. A part of her felt remorse. She didn’t want to hurt him.
Ginger folded the scarf and placed it in her handbag.
“And look what William bought me.” Lucy lifted a third headscarf, a long navy-blue one. It seemed Lucy was enjoying spending William’s money on herself.
The thought provoked the question about William’s background once again. “What did you do in Kent, William? Before the war. I feel I haven’t had the time to ask you too much about yourself.”
“I worked in banking.” His answer was vague, though perhaps he intended it that way.
“I was always terrible with numbers,” Ginger admitted as she fingered a sandwich. “Though I enjoyed literature. Do you read?” Inadvertently, she’d asked the question while thinking of Noah. She remembered Victoria describing Noah as a bookworm.
“Occasionally. I enjoy a good novel on a cold winter night.” William leaned back in his seat, the caning on the seat creaking as it stretched under his weight.
“Though, I think I could accustom myself to these Egyptian winters. They’re rather more enjoyable than deep drifts of snow and shivering until you can’t feel your toes. ”
“Snow,” Lucy said the word reverently. “I miss it. And that first beautiful day in the spring—” She gave Ginger a knowing glance. “Ginny always used to call it her favorite day of the year.”
Ginger shared a wistful smile with her sister. “That’s true. There’s nothing quite like that first warm day, when the birds have returned, and the skies have turned blue once again. And the green grass is so perfect for a horse ride …” Ginger blushed and bit into her sandwich.
“You enjoy the natural world, then?” A breeze teased the hair near his ears.
Ginger swallowed her bite. “I do.”
As Lucy told William about all their favorite outdoor places back home at Penmore, Ginger felt a mixture of nostalgia and wistful regret.
When they’d left home at the beginning of the war, she’d never imagined she wouldn’t return.
Now the chances of her ever seeing Penmore outside of a passing visit were remote. She would never live there again.
Neither would her family. Unless Lucy married William. While that remained a possibility, she still felt guilt at the thought of Lucy being forced to marry someone just to save the family fortune.
A troubling thought struck her. At least she had a life with Noah to look forward to. For her family, the future had the potential to be much bleaker.
She sat back in her chair, sipping her tea, determined to enjoy this time. With her family going to Gezira Island for the afternoon, it left her some freedom in her schedule. Shepheard’s was around the corner. Noah might be there.
She was going to pay him a visit. No matter who saw her.