more than sufficient.’ She set the tray on a low table and motioned them both into chairs. It was the first rule of the experienced hostess to get her antipathetical guests on soft cushions, naturally: stand-up rows were less easy to pursue when sitting down.
‘I was about to ask Colonel Havergal about the Ryle Foundation, Isobel,’ Roskill said quickly. ‘But perhaps you could answer me – where would you say its special usefulness lies? Compared with other agencies?’
‘We’re rather unspectacular really, Hugh. We never make headlines.’
‘What do you think, Colonel?’
Havergal grunted, sensing danger but unable to locate its direction. If he knew his Liddell Hart, though, he’d recognise the strategy of the Indirect Approach.
‘I’ll tell you what I think,’ said Roskill with false diffidence. ‘I think you’re right, Isobel – I think it does a very valuable job because it’s never been the least bit political – even in the old days it never had any British strings attached to it. It never produced future statesmen or generals – just nurses and farmers and primary school teachers.’
It was a mash of snatches of half-remembered lunch conversations at Ryle House – mostly John’s remarks, not even addressed to him. It surprised him that they had stuck in his memory, like flotsam left at a freak tidemark. But it served now to rouse Havergal. ‘That’s true enough – you’ve done your homework,’ he said cautiously. ‘We’ve never been a short-cut for the clever intellectuals. We’ve never sent anyone to Oxford and Cambridge – or to Harvard. Old Jacob Ryle wasn’t one of Cecil Rhodes’s admirers. He laid it down in black and white – get the good second-class brains and train ‘em to do something useful. Work ‘em so hard they won’t have time to get up to mischief – ‘
Havergal stopped abruptly, as though he’d followed Roskill’s lead one step too far on to dangerous ground.
‘But it hasn’t worked out like that, has it?’
Havergal remained silent. It was quite clear to Roskill now that he’d come to the flat to get information and not to give it; to get it and use it to purge his beloved Foundation of impurities which now contaminated its down-to-earth aims.
He’d agreed to come because he’d thought – and reasonably enough – that Roskill was a bungling beginner. But apparently Sir Frederick had told him otherwise, and that had put him on his guard.
But that wouldn’t serve the present crisis, to which the health of the Ryle Foundation and an old man’s peace of mind were secondary. It was enough to know that the Foundation was vulnerable, for that could only mean one thing.
‘Let’s not pretend any more, Colonel. The Ryle Foundation is being used as a cover for illegal Arab activities. You might as well admit it.’
Havergal looked at him coldly. ‘I don’t have to admit anything, Squadron Leader Roskill. And as to so-called illegal Arab activities – like the national interest, they are a matter of definition. I rather think I am as good a judge as you are of whit is illegal and what isn’t, and for much the same reasons.’
‘But Archie – ‘ Isobel intervened ‘ — we can’t have the Foundation used for that sort of thing. Hugh’s absolutely right.’
‘Isobel, my dear, there was a time when I would have agreed with you – and with Roskill,’ Havergal said patiently. ‘But the world has changed since then, and if the Foundation’s still going to do a worthwhile job it has to change too – just to stay in being.’
‘Then you condone what may be happening?’ said Roskill.
‘Condone it? Don’t be a fool, man – of course I don’t condone it. It threatens the Foundation. But I understand it – I knew that if I was an Arab I wouldn’t be sitting around talking. Do you think the Foundation would last ten minutes in the Middle East today if we tried to crack down on it? We’d be finished.’
‘So what exactly is it
‘I was about to ask Colonel Havergal about the Ryle Foundation, Isobel,’ Roskill said quickly. ‘But perhaps you could answer me – where would you say its special usefulness lies? Compared with other agencies?’
‘We’re rather unspectacular really, Hugh. We never make headlines.’
‘What do you think, Colonel?’
Havergal grunted, sensing danger but unable to locate its direction. If he knew his Liddell Hart, though, he’d recognise the strategy of the Indirect Approach.
‘I’ll tell you what I think,’ said Roskill with false diffidence. ‘I think you’re right, Isobel – I think it does a very valuable job because it’s never been the least bit political – even in the old days it never had any British strings attached to it. It never produced future statesmen or generals – just nurses and farmers and primary school teachers.’
It was a mash of snatches of half-remembered lunch conversations at Ryle House – mostly John’s remarks, not even addressed to him. It surprised him that they had stuck in his memory, like flotsam left at a freak tidemark. But it served now to rouse Havergal. ‘That’s true enough – you’ve done your homework,’ he said cautiously. ‘We’ve never been a short-cut for the clever intellectuals. We’ve never sent anyone to Oxford and Cambridge – or to Harvard. Old Jacob Ryle wasn’t one of Cecil Rhodes’s admirers. He laid it down in black and white – get the good second-class brains and train ‘em to do something useful. Work ‘em so hard they won’t have time to get up to mischief – ‘
Havergal stopped abruptly, as though he’d followed Roskill’s lead one step too far on to dangerous ground.
‘But it hasn’t worked out like that, has it?’
Havergal remained silent. It was quite clear to Roskill now that he’d come to the flat to get information and not to give it; to get it and use it to purge his beloved Foundation of impurities which now contaminated its down-to-earth aims.
He’d agreed to come because he’d thought – and reasonably enough – that Roskill was a bungling beginner. But apparently Sir Frederick had told him otherwise, and that had put him on his guard.
But that wouldn’t serve the present crisis, to which the health of the Ryle Foundation and an old man’s peace of mind were secondary. It was enough to know that the Foundation was vulnerable, for that could only mean one thing.
‘Let’s not pretend any more, Colonel. The Ryle Foundation is being used as a cover for illegal Arab activities. You might as well admit it.’
Havergal looked at him coldly. ‘I don’t have to admit anything, Squadron Leader Roskill. And as to so-called illegal Arab activities – like the national interest, they are a matter of definition. I rather think I am as good a judge as you are of whit is illegal and what isn’t, and for much the same reasons.’
‘But Archie – ‘ Isobel intervened ‘ — we can’t have the Foundation used for that sort of thing. Hugh’s absolutely right.’
‘Isobel, my dear, there was a time when I would have agreed with you – and with Roskill,’ Havergal said patiently. ‘But the world has changed since then, and if the Foundation’s still going to do a worthwhile job it has to change too – just to stay in being.’
‘Then you condone what may be happening?’ said Roskill.
‘Condone it? Don’t be a fool, man – of course I don’t condone it. It threatens the Foundation. But I understand it – I knew that if I was an Arab I wouldn’t be sitting around talking. Do you think the Foundation would last ten minutes in the Middle East today if we tried to crack down on it? We’d be finished.’
‘So what exactly is it
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