“How did the meeting with Heidi’s parents turn out?”
“The Foreign Secretary saw them personally last week. It couldn’t help, but at least he was able to confirm that I had only been telling the truth.”
?
??Twelve thousand.” The auctioneer’s eyes returned to the front of the room.
“Did you see the Foreign Secretary yourself?”
“Good heavens, no. I’m far too junior for that,” said Adam. “I’m lucky if I get to see Lawrence, let alone the Foreign Secretary.”
Robin laughed. “I consider you were lucky to have been offered a place at the Foreign Office at all.”
“Agreed,” said Adam, chuckling to himself. “But a vacancy arose unexpectedly.”
“What do you mean, unexpectedly?” asked Robin, frustrated by how few of her questions had been answered directly in the last half hour.
“All I can tell you is that one of Lawrence’s old team was ‘retired early,’” said Adam.
“Was that true of Romanov also?” asked Robin, still desperately trying to discover all that had taken place since they had last met.
“Thirteen thousand,” said the auctioneer, his eyes returning to the lady on the center aisle.
“After all, he can’t have survived for long once they discovered you had done a switch that gave the Russians back the copy while Romanov ended up presenting you with the original,” said Robin.
“He’s never been heard of since,” admitted Adam innocently. “All our information leads us to believe his boss, Zaborski, is to be replaced by someone called Yuri Andropov.”
“Fourteen thousand,” said the auctioneer, his eyes settling on the gentleman at the front once again.
“What happened when you produced those court papers proving that it was not your father who had smuggled the poison into Goering’s cell?”
“Once that had been authenticated by the Russians,” Adam said, “Lawrence paid an official visit to the colonel of the regiment and furnished him with the Foreign Office’s conclusions.”
“Any reaction?” probed Robin.
“They’re going to hold a memorial service in Pa’s memory and they have commissioned some fellow called Wood to paint his portrait for the regimental mess. Mother has been invited to unveil it in the presence of all those officers who served with my father.”
“Fourteen thousand for the first time then,” said the auctioneer, raising the little gavel a few inches in the air.
“She must have been over the moon,” said Robin.
“Burst into tears,” said Adam. “All she could say was ‘I wish Pa could have lived to see it.” Ironic really. If only he had opened that letter.”
“Fourteen thousand for the second time,” said the auctioneer, the gavel now hovering.
“How do you fancy a celebration lunch at the Ritz?” said Adam, delighted with how well the sale was turning out.
“No, thank you,” said Robin.
Adam looked at his companion in surprise.
“It won’t be much fun if every time I ask you a question I only get the official Foreign Office briefing.”
Adam looked sheepish. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“No, that wasn’t fair,” said Robin. “Now you’re on the inside it can’t be easy, so I suppose I will have to go to my grave wondering what treaty was inside that icon.”
Adam looked away from the girl who had saved his life.