There it was, I thought, as his fork stopped midair and that dark gaze met mine.
“Ye’re not suggesting… that you and I have met before in another life?”
“That could be most interesting,” I suggested. “That fate or whatever you want to call it, crossed our paths once more.”
He lowered his fork. “And wot might the circumstances of that previous life be?”
I had finished the meal and rose from the table. “According to Templeton, she might very well have been a man in that previous life and Munro…” I left the obvious unspoken.
“It’s never quite certain how it will happen, you see. According to hersources…”
“And the color of yer gown?” Brodie asked as a coach arrived to take us to the Agency offices at the Tower of London for our scheduled meeting with Sir Avery.
“Purple? Although it is most becoming to ye.”
He held my jacket then handed me my bag that contained notes I’d made during our meeting with Sir Reginald at the museum.
“Wot does it stand for according to Miss Templeton?”
We departed with my notes and a new urgency with the information we had learned, put off until the afternoon when Sir Avery apparently had time to meet with us.
“Power,” I replied as Brodie gave the driver our destination.
Thirteen
“You expectme to believe that Soropkin may be out there somewhere with… as you called it, a new face, a different identity? Based upon what? Some ancient Egyptian text that Dr. Bennett was supposedly using. Ridiculous!”
Sir Avery rose from behind his desk, went to the door of his office, and closed it.
“That is the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard from you.”
This directed at Brodie, which I found to be beyond irritating in consideration of the efforts he had made in the past on behalf of the Agency.
I summoned the “purple,” as it were. Power. And then of course, there was the aspect of my red hair which Brodie was certain accounted for a great deal of my temperament.
“Nevertheless,” I interjected. “It is noteworthy, and the Egyptian culture is far older than ours. According to Dr. Bennett’s notes and the manuscript that clearly showed advanced procedures. It is very possible for someone’s features to be changed through surgery. Possibly made to look quitedifferent. And it is far more than you have been able to determine about Soropkin’s whereabouts.”
When he would have interrupted, no doubt to emphasize what he considered to be my lack of experience in such matters, I continued.
“You must admit that the evidence that we have brought you most certainly supports the possibility. And while you may consider it ‘ridiculous,’ I assure you there is a boy who is a living example of such a procedure. Therefore,” I did take a breath.
“The question now, sir, is…” I was not devoid of common courtesies, even when addressing a pompous ass. And there were moments when they could be useful.
“Are you prepared to ignore the possibility at perhaps the cost of some cataclysmic event that Soropkin is well known for?”
To say that the following silence spoke volumes was another of those understatements.
“No, I am not. Well put, Lady Forsythe.”
I prevented that moment of gloating over such an obvious victory.
“What then do you propose?”
I knew where this was leading from past meetings with Sir Avery. It was condescending in the least. He obviously hoped that having aired my feelings in the matter, that was the extent of it.
Not hardly.
“Mr. Brodie and I have some thoughts on that.” And I deferred to him, more from concern that I might be quite blunt with aproposalfor Sir Avery that had little to do with the inquiry case. Something more along the line of taking a leap in the river.
