Chapter 33 #2
Henry got to his feet, scooping it up. ‘Excuse me, sir?’ he called. ‘You dropped something.’
‘Good lord, so I did,’ Archie said. His accent was rougher than usual. ‘Thank you so much. Can I buy you a drink for your trouble?’
‘If you’ll join us to drink it,’ said Henry.
Archie accepted. He gestured to the barman, and slid into the empty seat next to mine. It felt as though every nerve ending in my body was sizzling, desperate for him to touch me. But of course, he didn’t.
‘I’m Marta Bucher,’ I said. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
‘Miss Bucher,’ Archie said. He shook my outstretched hand, and I ached with the closeness of him.
‘This is my sister, Ada Morgan,’ I said.
‘Half-sister,’ said Lara, pointedly, reaching across the table and shaking Archie’s hand vigorously. ‘And my husband, Baron Rhodri Morgan.’
‘Charmed,’ said Archie. ‘I’m Douglas Hepburn.’
The barman brought our drinks, and we all stopped talking for a moment.
‘What takes you to Paris?’ asked Archie through slightly gritted teeth.
‘Oh, we’re not stopping,’ I said lightly.
‘We’re going back to Britain from Paris.
Rhodri here has business to attend to, and my sister invited me to join them.
’ I noticed the Germans watching us – had they heard my name?
– and lowered my voice the tiniest amount knowing they would still be able to hear me.
‘I am worried I will need to change my name,’ I said.
‘Our father was German, but I don’t think the Brits will be too welcoming, blast them. ’
Archie looked straight at me. ‘I think that will depend on where your sympathies lie,’ he said.
I made a face, aware of the German officer’s eyes on me. ‘I think I should change it,’ I said with a meaningful nod.
Archie’s shoulders dropped, tension released, as if I’d given him the answer he wanted. At the other table, the officer stopped watching me and turned his attention to his companions. It felt a little like I’d passed a test.
‘Why are you going to Paris, Mr Hepburn?’ asked Lara.
‘I’m going home, too,’ Archie said. ‘My mother is ill.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Henry looked concerned and I was impressed by his acting skills. ‘Will you return to Lisbon?’
Archie shook his head. ‘The city has been good to me,’ he said. He leaned over the table, as though he was sharing a secret. ‘I’ve made a lot of money, doing this and that, if you catch my drift? I’ll find something else to do in London.’
He drained his glass. ‘I’m off to bed,’ he said, taking his cabin key out of his pocket and putting it on the table as he adjusted his hat. ‘The cabins are nice, aren’t they? I’m the only person in mine. I’m glad I don’t have to share.’
My eyes flickered from him to the key in front of me, where the cabin number was clearly displayed. He gave me the tiniest, most imperceptible wink. Or perhaps it was just the dim light of the carriage playing tricks on me.
‘Well, goodnight,’ he said, standing up. ‘Perhaps our paths will cross again.’
He headed off out of the bar. I watched him go. Then I looked back at the others who were both watching me.
‘Shall we turn in, too?’ said Lara.
I nodded. ‘You two go ahead,’ I said. ‘I’m just going to finish my drink.’
Lara gave me a pointed look, but I ignored her. I let them go, then I drained my glass, and confidently headed to Archie’s cabin.
I knocked lightly at the door, half-expecting him not to answer. But he opened the door immediately and dragged me inside.
‘What the bloody hell are you doing here?’ he hissed.
‘We’re going to find Frances,’ I said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’m going to find Frances, of course.’ He took his hat off and threw it onto one of the narrow beds. ‘And our bloody sleeper agent, Marcus Oxley.’
‘Ah,’ I said. ‘He’s in Lisbon.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Seriously. But he’s been shot and he’s terribly ill. He managed to tell us that Frances is still in Paris. She’s hiding. It sounded like he meant she was hiding in the library, but it was hard to tell.’
‘Does Digby know you’re here?’
‘No,’ I said, rolling my eyes. ‘He forbade us to go to Paris.’
‘But you came anyway,’ Archie said.
I shrugged. ‘What else could we do? Does he know you’re here?’
He shook his head. ‘No, he warned me not to come either, but I boarded the train at the Spanish border.’
‘What Digby doesn’t know, won’t hurt him,’ I said more confidently than I felt.
‘You don’t think he’ll know by now?’ said Archie. ‘Now four of us are missing. Did Edith do your papers?’
‘Yes.’
‘She’ll tell him everything if he so much as looks in her direction,’ he said. ‘She adores Digby.’ He sighed. ‘This is bonkers, Cassie.’
‘Marta,’ I said.
He tutted. ‘Why on earth didn’t you tell me what you were planning?’
‘Because you’ve been in Spain and I had no way to contact you,’ I said, whispering angrily. ‘Because you left my flat before I was awake and I didn’t see you again. And I thought …’
Archie’s expression softened. ‘I left because I needed to act as quickly as I could.’
My heart was beating faster. ‘You weren’t avoiding me?’
Archie reached out and pushed a curl off my face. ‘Never,’ he said, rubbing my hair between his thumb and forefinger. ‘Is this a wig?’
‘Of course it’s a wig,’ I said, affronted. ‘How can you not know what my hair looks like?’
He chuckled, pulling me towards him and kissing me firmly. I sank into his embrace, as it became more urgent and then I pulled away, reluctantly.
‘I need to go back to our compartment,’ I said, gazing up at him. ‘I have all our documents, and I speak the best German. I need to be there when we cross the border.’
‘I’ll come, too,’ Archie said. ‘I can just say you asked me to join you for cards or something.’
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Douglas.’
He kissed me again. ‘You can call me Dougie,’ he said.