Assignment - Manchurian Doll (24 page)

“I’ll never see you again, will I?” she murmured.

“I think not.”

“It would be for the best, I suppose. But I owe you so much. It is because of you that I can meet Alexi as a woman, and not as a child.”

Her fingers were cool. They slid away from his. “Goodbye, then,” she said.

He nodded and watched her walk in grace and beauty toward the car. She walked with quick purpose, and Durell saw Kaminov waiting for her, a look of wonder on his face.

She held out both hands and he took them and drew her to him for a moment. Neither turned to look back at him.

Durell felt a sadness that did not belong in the peaceful, golden day.

She looked proud and calm and inexpressibly lovely, sitting beside Kaminov in the back of the car. He had the fleeting sensation of having lost something that those two had found; but then he told himself he was simply tired.

The car drove away, and he was alone.

He stood for a moment, looking at the quiet beauty of the garden, and then he turned from the gate and went into the inn to telephone the Embassy in Tokyo and make arrangements for his return to Washington.