My assistance was required?
It did seem that Brodie was apparently well and alive—it certainly wasn’t notification of any catastrophe in that regard.
Therefore, there was only one reason Sir Avery had sent that telegram.
I had, after all, made that agreement months earlier...an agreement that had driven the wedge even further between Brodie and me.
It did seem thatwedgewas an understatement. His reaction had been explosive and seemingly quite final.
I suppose there was no choice in the matter. I might refuse, but I had visions of Sir Avery sending some of his ‘people’ to retrieve me if I didn’t make a timely appearance.
“It seems that I must return to London,” I finally replied, not at all pleased about it. I could only imagine what it was thatrequiredmy assistance.
I insisted that Lily remain at Old Lodge with my great-aunt. No sense in shortening their stay on my account,
“Sir Avery Stanton?” my aunt had inquired of the telegram. She had remarkable eyesight for someone her age, given the distance of a good ten feet from where she sat as I had opened the envelope.
“Some new inquiry case, perhaps?” she made a casual suggestion.
“Some previous business.” I made the excuse and said nothing more.
We spent that last evening, before my departure for London, exploring the weapons at Old Lodge, that included twin flint-lock pistols that my aunt had first learned to shoot with. She seemed particularly fond of them.
The following morning, Mrs. Hutton, the caretaker’s wife, provided me a carry-along luncheon and Mr. Hutton drove me to the village, where I was able to send off a response to Sir Avery to let him know that I was returning.
The trip back to London took several hours with connections made along the way. It was late in the evening when the train finally arrived at King’s Cross station.
I would have preferred to meet with Sir Avery the following day with a chance to collect my thoughts and settle back in at the town house in Mayfair.
That was not to be, as my housekeeper, Mrs. Ryan, handed me a note that had been sent round by courier earlier that day and informed me that my presence was needed immediately upon my arrival.
“Something to eat first, miss?” Mrs. Ryan inquired as I put through a call for a cabman after letting the driver from the rail station depart.
I had no appetite. Instead, I quickly changed out of my travel costume as I waited for a new driver.
I retrieved my notebook from my writing desk and tucked it into my travel bag. I suddenly stopped as I came across the fountain pen Brodie had given me for my last birthday. It was elegant and undoubtedly quite expensive.
“Fer makin’ yer notes,”he had said.
I had cried, not because of what it was. I had other writing pens. Nor because it was so very expensive. It was because of what it meant, that he understood me, as few others had.
I put it in my bag as well. The cabman arrived shortly thereafter.
“When should I expect you, miss?” Mrs. Ryan asked as I seized my umbrella.
In truth, I had no idea. It was quite unusual for a meeting to be scheduled so late in the day. Yet, this was Sir Avery and the Special Services Agency. I told her not to wait supper as I left the town house.
On the ride to the Tower where the Agency had their offices, I thought again about that agreement I had made with Sir Avery, the very same agreement that had saved Brodie’s life. I didn’t regret it at the time.
However, I now wondered what it might mean, as Sir Avery seemed to call in that agreement I had made.
The offices of the Agency were under the Tower of London, in a rabbit-warren of ancient rooms and cells that had been converted for the purposes of secrecy.
The description was somewhat vague to say the least. The official version was that the Agency investigated and resolveddelicate and at times dangerous threats against the Crown, the royal family, and others.
In the past, that had included conspiracies, counterfeit currency, and an assassination attempt against a member of the royal family, inquiry cases that Brodie and I had found ourselves involved in.
The unofficial version was that the‘situations’the Agency dealt with were often of the utmost secrecy and never revealed on the crime pages of the daily newspapers.
