‘Don’t worry.’ I patted his beard. ‘I’ve been on the inside, too. We’re fellow jail birds now. Isn’t that sweet?’
In response, he only uttered an incomprehensible Punjabi curse.
Taking pity on the poor man, I squeezed him one last time, patted his furry cheek, and stepped back. Instantly, Karim grabbed the saboteur, and gave him a if-you-ever-repeat-what-you-saw-I’ll-kill-you look.
‘You! You dare to go against the Sahib and injure those in his service?’
The doorman fainted.
Turning towards Mr Ambrose, Karim stood as straight as a drill sergeant who had swallowed a ruler. ‘Fear not, Sahib. I shall squeeze every last bit of information out of him. When I’m done with him, we shall know every detail of Dalgliesh’s plans, and we will be able to move against him.’
Mr Ambrose nodded. ‘Indeed.’
A moment later, Karim had disappeared, and we were left alone in the room, scrutinizing each other.
‘I do not appreciate,’ Mr Ambrose told me coolly, ‘your throwing yourself at other men.’
‘Oh, come on.’ I couldn’t help the grin tugging at the corners of my mouth. ‘You have to admit it was worth it, just to see the look on his face.’
Mr Ambrose was not in the habit of admitting anything, just in case a tax collector happened to be nearby. But the non-expression on his face told me everything. He took a step towards me. I took a step towards him.
‘We did it,’ I whispered. ‘The saboteur is caught. Out of pure dumb luck, true, but what the heck? We did it.’
‘Indeed.’
Another step.
‘I never thought it would be over this quickly.’
‘Neither did I.’
And another. We were almost close enough to touch.
‘Now all we have to do is wait for the King to accept your gracious invitation, and we’ve won.’
A muscle in his jaw twitched. ‘Don’t remind me.’
‘Don’t worry.’ Reaching up, I caressed his cheek with the back of my hand. ‘The expense will be worth it.’
‘Indeed, Mr Linton?’
‘Well…’ Smiling cheekily up at him, I sidled closer until our lips were nearly touching. ‘How about if I make it worth it?’
‘Ahem?’
At the sound of another voice, we jerked apart. Whirling around, I saw Claudette standing at the end of the corridor, her eyes twinkling.
‘I…we…errr…were just…’
‘Not worry.’ Winking, she hustled over towards us. ‘Your secret is safe wis me, mon ami.’
Under my hand, I felt Mr Ambrose stiffened. He stared at me intently and mouthed, ‘She knows?’
I simply nodded and prayed to God he never found out what it was she knew, or thought she knew, about me, and now, by extension, about him. Oh dear. If he ever found out…
Best not think about it.
At all.