and they had not, had been
extraordinary. It had been, too, an awful ordeal, she thought. Looking at the sleeping boy she wondered, what dawning horror had compelled a man with Captain Peterson’s store of cynical courage to take his own life with such bleak haste?
Elizabeth felt relieved that Adam slept with such serenity. But she also felt a growing sense of anxiety at a detail Mark had related in his account. He had described something. And it had brought to mind a thing both fearful and familiar to her. His description left her feeling the need to travel to somewhere she knew very well and study the thing afresh. She did not want to confront it. It was a thing that had stirred uneasiness in her all her life. But she felt she had to. She could not practically do so of course until tomorrow. But as soon as she could tomorrow, she resolved, she would. She became aware the conversation downstairs had stopped. She took a last look at her patient, at his beautiful head serene on the pillow. She smiled and whispered a brief blessing over him and turned and left the room.
‘Husband or son?’ she asked Mark as she entered the sitting room.
‘How is Adam?’
‘He’s sleeping peacefully. Well?’
‘Whoever he was, he did not persist with the pretence, once he knew he had my attention. He was a messenger. He called himself an emissary, but he was just a messenger with an appetite for pomp.’
‘Emissaries usually represent people of great importance, don’t they?’
‘Or people of great self-importance,’ Hunter said.
‘Well, Mark. Are you going to tell me?’
‘Is it too late, do you think, for a drink?’
She smiled at him. ‘In this country you will learn, if you stay, to think that a redundant question.’
Her emissary had claimed to speak on behalf of Miss Hall. She was in Switzerland, and she wanted urgently to see him.
‘Our encounter took place over a decade ago. And she speaks of urgency?’ Hunter had said to the self-styled emissary.
‘She knows what is happening to your son, Colonel Hunter.’
‘Then she will know how reluctant I am to leave him.’
They had kept up. They knew about his elevation in rank. But then, somehow they knew the unlisted phone number too.
‘She is dying, Colonel Hunter. That is why it is so urgent that you come. And I am instructed to promise you this. Your son will not dream in your absence in Switzerland.’
‘She can stop it?’
There was a pause. ‘She can delay it. She can defer it, Colonel Hunter. And you will come. We both know you have no choice.’
‘Don’t I?’
‘You love your son. You love him very much. And he is all you have left.’
The fire had pretty much died. Elizabeth shivered and sipped at her whisky. ‘What time will you leave?’
He looked at his watch. Friday had gone. It was just after 2 a.m. on Saturday now. ‘She has requested I attend an audience arranged for Monday evening. I can get a flight from Edinburgh to Geneva on Monday morning. If I take an early flight I’ll have plenty of time. But first I will have to arrange care for Adam. I cannot possibly take him with me. I have seen what these people are capable of. Miss Hall might well be dying. The man on the phone might well be her emissary, and she may be gravely ill as he says. But even if that is true, I cannot take Adam with me. These people possess great and malevolent powers and
I don’t want him exposed to the risk of the terrible things they can do.’
‘He’s already a victim of what they can do,’ she said.
‘At a remove, yes, he is. But I don’t want him anywhere near them physically.’
Elizabeth thought. ‘I can’t stay with him in the day, Mark. I have a practice to run, patients to attend to. A disproportionate number of them are elderly and isolated. And it would take me a few days at least to organise a locum. But I do know of two very good agency child minders. One of them could prepare his meals and get him to school and back and launder
extraordinary. It had been, too, an awful ordeal, she thought. Looking at the sleeping boy she wondered, what dawning horror had compelled a man with Captain Peterson’s store of cynical courage to take his own life with such bleak haste?
Elizabeth felt relieved that Adam slept with such serenity. But she also felt a growing sense of anxiety at a detail Mark had related in his account. He had described something. And it had brought to mind a thing both fearful and familiar to her. His description left her feeling the need to travel to somewhere she knew very well and study the thing afresh. She did not want to confront it. It was a thing that had stirred uneasiness in her all her life. But she felt she had to. She could not practically do so of course until tomorrow. But as soon as she could tomorrow, she resolved, she would. She became aware the conversation downstairs had stopped. She took a last look at her patient, at his beautiful head serene on the pillow. She smiled and whispered a brief blessing over him and turned and left the room.
‘Husband or son?’ she asked Mark as she entered the sitting room.
‘How is Adam?’
‘He’s sleeping peacefully. Well?’
‘Whoever he was, he did not persist with the pretence, once he knew he had my attention. He was a messenger. He called himself an emissary, but he was just a messenger with an appetite for pomp.’
‘Emissaries usually represent people of great importance, don’t they?’
‘Or people of great self-importance,’ Hunter said.
‘Well, Mark. Are you going to tell me?’
‘Is it too late, do you think, for a drink?’
She smiled at him. ‘In this country you will learn, if you stay, to think that a redundant question.’
Her emissary had claimed to speak on behalf of Miss Hall. She was in Switzerland, and she wanted urgently to see him.
‘Our encounter took place over a decade ago. And she speaks of urgency?’ Hunter had said to the self-styled emissary.
‘She knows what is happening to your son, Colonel Hunter.’
‘Then she will know how reluctant I am to leave him.’
They had kept up. They knew about his elevation in rank. But then, somehow they knew the unlisted phone number too.
‘She is dying, Colonel Hunter. That is why it is so urgent that you come. And I am instructed to promise you this. Your son will not dream in your absence in Switzerland.’
‘She can stop it?’
There was a pause. ‘She can delay it. She can defer it, Colonel Hunter. And you will come. We both know you have no choice.’
‘Don’t I?’
‘You love your son. You love him very much. And he is all you have left.’
The fire had pretty much died. Elizabeth shivered and sipped at her whisky. ‘What time will you leave?’
He looked at his watch. Friday had gone. It was just after 2 a.m. on Saturday now. ‘She has requested I attend an audience arranged for Monday evening. I can get a flight from Edinburgh to Geneva on Monday morning. If I take an early flight I’ll have plenty of time. But first I will have to arrange care for Adam. I cannot possibly take him with me. I have seen what these people are capable of. Miss Hall might well be dying. The man on the phone might well be her emissary, and she may be gravely ill as he says. But even if that is true, I cannot take Adam with me. These people possess great and malevolent powers and
I don’t want him exposed to the risk of the terrible things they can do.’
‘He’s already a victim of what they can do,’ she said.
‘At a remove, yes, he is. But I don’t want him anywhere near them physically.’
Elizabeth thought. ‘I can’t stay with him in the day, Mark. I have a practice to run, patients to attend to. A disproportionate number of them are elderly and isolated. And it would take me a few days at least to organise a locum. But I do know of two very good agency child minders. One of them could prepare his meals and get him to school and back and launder
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