The Lost Empress (17 page)

‘I know, Archie. I’m sorry. We’ll go for a very long drive together when all this is over, I promise.’

The heavens opened then, and they ran to the car.

‘That’s a deal,’ Archie said. He dashed ahead to open the passenger door. Then he held Alice’s hand and helped her inside. ‘Mind the running board. It’s a little slippery.’

The bench seat inside the two-seater was so narrow that when Archie climbed in beside Alice, his shoulder was pressing against hers. ‘It’s a little cosy,’ he said. The engine was already running. ‘Listen to that,’ he added. He revved it harder. ‘Have you ever heard such a roar?’

‘No, I’m sure I haven’t.’

They set off for Hamberley, turning out onto the High Street, and when the car had settled into its stride, Archie said, ‘Now then, what’s this all about? If you’re in trouble, Alice, I’m your man.’

‘I know you are, Archie, but I really can’t tell you what it is just now. I need you to trust me. You do trust me, don’t you?’

‘Yes, of course, but—’

‘Good,’ Alice cut in. ‘I promise I’ll explain everything when this is over. You’ll understand then—I know you will. Now drive slowly. There’s something I have to tell you. It’s the reason I couldn’t go for that drive with you last Sunday.’ Alice bit her lip then and delivered what she knew would be the first of many painful lies that evening. ‘You see, Archie, I was too afraid.’

‘Afraid? Whatever of?’

‘I was afraid of getting too close to you. Seeing you again after so long brought back such fond memories. I’m afraid my feelings have been very confused of late, but not any more.’

‘However do you mean?’

‘I think you know what I mean, Archie. You were plain enough about your feelings for me when you rescued me from my father’s interrogation that night after dinner, when you took me out onto the terrace for some air. My father was right in supposing that everything is not all it seems between Henry and me.’

‘It’s not?’

Alice could already hear the hope rising in Archie’s voice as he spoke. She despised herself for leading him on like this. ‘No, Archie,’ she said. ‘Henry wasn’t delayed on business at all. We quarrelled and I came home to Hamberley with the children. We’ve quarrelled so much recently.’

‘I see,’ Archie said.

A single tear fell onto Alice’s cheek. She wiped it away and turned to Archie, forcing herself to go on with her pretence. ‘Do you, Archie?’ she said. ‘I wonder if you really do see what I mean.’

Archie shifted in his seat, and Alice noticed that the car had slowed to a crawl. He didn’t look at her. His eyes remained fixed on the road ahead as he said, ‘Perhaps you should tell me, so there’s no misunderstanding.’

‘Very well,’ Alice said. Then she choked back another tear and delivered the lie that hurt the most, partly because it was no lie at all. ‘I love you, Archie Ashcroft.’

Their eyes found one another’s in the near darkness, and although Alice couldn’t quite make out the dimples on his cheeks, she knew they were there, exaggerated by his smile. All her memories of their happy times together seemed to rush her at once, and she began to shake as she fought to control her emotions.

‘I’m sure I’ve always loved you,’ she added, her voice trembling. Then somehow she managed to deliver the remainder of those hateful lines she had practiced on the train, to that sweet boy she knew deserved so much better. ‘But if we’re to have any future together, there’s something I need you to do for me first. Perhaps it’s too much to ask of you.’

‘Is it worth a kiss?’

‘It’s worth a hundred kisses, Archie, but not now. When this is all over, I promise.’

‘Well, you just name it,’ Archie said. He stopped the car and grabbed Alice’s hand. ‘Nothing’s too much for you.’

Chapter Twenty-One

Friday, 1 May 1914.

Unveiled by King George V in 1911, under the watchful eyes of Kaiser Wilhelm II, London’s Queen Victoria memorial stood twenty-five metres high and was made from white Carrara marble and granite. It was the largest statue of any British monarch and was surrounded by ships’ prows, and mermaids and mermen in reference to Britain’s great naval power. Archie had told Alice to wait for him on the statue steps facing Buckingham Palace at four o’clock that afternoon, and there she had waited with her camera case hanging from her shoulder, growing more and more anxious with every minute that passed beyond the appointed time.

Where is he?

It was after four thirty now, and Alice wondered again whether something had gone wrong. Had Archie changed his mind? He hadn’t been so keen to help her once she’d told him what she wanted him to do for her, and she knew it was asking a lot of him, despite his obvious feelings for her. Perhaps it had proven too much
for him.
She certainly wouldn’t blame him given what was at stake. When he’d finally agreed to help her, Archie had told her that with his level of clearance it would not be too difficult to access the plans she needed to see. They had agreed that he would bring them to her so she could photograph them, and then he would return them again before anyone noticed they were gone. It was as simple an arrangement as they could devise, but she knew deep down that he had not wanted to do it. She had forced him to choose between her and his country, and as the minutes now ticked by, she started to think that he had made his choice and was not coming.

Alice began to circle the statue, thankful that the day was dry and bright. She took in one of the mythical stone hippogriffs as she passed it: a winged creature that was part horse in the lower section, with the head and torso of an eagle. She eyed its wings and silently wished she had wings of her own so she could fly far away, and for the first time she wondered what would happen if she did. What would Raskin and the people he worked for make of that? Who then could they levy their threats at? A simple irony occurred to her when she thought that the biggest threat to her family might well be herself.

Alice shook her head to rid her mind of such thoughts and gazed out from her elevated position. Being so close to Buckingham Palace, she supposed this was always a busy area, and today was no exception, making it all the more difficult to pick anyone out from the crowd. She continued to pace around the statue, and she had circled it three times before she saw him. He was walking towards her along The Mall, wearing his officer’s cap and a long greatcoat, hands thrust deep into his pockets. She went to meet him and noticed he was walking oddly and drawing even more attention to himself by looking over his shoulder every now and then.

‘Alice, quickly,’ he said as they met. ‘Into the park.’

‘Is something wrong, Archie? You’re later than you said. I was worried about you.’

‘I’m fine. I was delayed, that’s all. By my conscience more than anything.’

‘Why are you walking like that?’

They crossed The Mall into Green Park, beneath the cover of the trees that were not quite in full leaf, and as they moved off the path and away from the other park goers, Archie showed
her the
reason for his odd gait. He unbuttoned his coat and quickly thrust his hand inside, before the plans he had purloined from the Admiralty Building could fall down altogether. They were wrapped around him and had slipped below his waist.

‘I’ve had the devil of a time trying to keep these things from falling to my ankles,’ he said. ‘I half expected them to trip me over altogether.’

Alice thought the two of them would have laughed about that under different circumstances. One day she hoped they would, but not now.

‘I don’t know why we couldn’t have done this in St James’s Park,’ Alice said. ‘It’s much closer.’

‘Too close for comfort. Look, let’s get this over with. The sooner they’re back in their rightful place, the better.’

‘How will you get them back? You can’t walk into the Admiralty like you just walked here to meet me. Someone will ask what’s wrong with you.’

‘I’ll take them back in a roll under my arm,’ Archie said. ‘No one will suspect anything of a naval officer taking charts into the Admiralty building. At least, I hope not.’

‘Let’s take them further out onto the lawn,’ Alice said. ‘It’s quiet over there, and the light’s much better away from the trees.’

When they were out in the open and a good hundred or so feet from anyone, Alice stopped, and Archie started looking around.

‘Stop doing that,’ Alice told him. ‘You’ll only draw attention. Here, hand me the plans, and I’ll lay them out. It will look as if I’m putting a blanket down, and anyone looking over will think we’re having a picnic or afternoon tea in the park.’

Archie opened his coat, and Alice slid the plans out. They sat on the grass, and Alice unbuckled the leather camera case. Despite telling him not to, Archie still kept looking around, as though he was expecting the First Sea Lord himself to walk up and collar him.

‘It’s going to be all right,’ Alice reassured him.

Archie just smiled nervously as she lined up the first section. She recognised part of the coastline of East Anglia, which was drawn out like an ordnance survey map, with contour lines and numerous numbers and symbols scattered here and there, along with a good many other things she didn’t understand. Of particular significance was the port of Harwich in Essex and mention of a Harwich Force. She got to her knees and hovered the camera above it, a few feet away as Raskin had instructed. She pressed the shutter release button and then did so again for good measure before moving on to the next section.

‘Hurry it along, Alice, please,’ Archie said. ‘I’m a nervous wreck.’

‘I’m almost finished. Pretend to laugh as though I just said something funny.’

‘What? No. Please, just hurry up.’

Alice could feel her own heart thumping as she took the last of her photographs and sat down again. She put the camera back into its case, and she thought Archie couldn’t have collected the plans together again quickly enough. He rolled them up and got to his feet.

‘Look, don’t think it rude of me, Alice, but I don’t want to hang around.’

They started walking back to the path and the gate they had entered by, and Alice slipped her arm through his. The gesture was partly for show, but she had to concede that a bigger part of her wanted to.

‘Will I see you tomorrow?’ Archie asked.

Alice was more concerned about when she was going to see Raskin again. ‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Everything’s so complicated.’

‘And this trouble you’re in—’

‘Do you mind if we don’t talk about it just yet?’ Alice cut in.

‘No, I suppose not. All in good time, eh?’

Alice had no idea how she was going to explain herself to Archie when all this was over, or whether he would understand, let alone forgive her for what she had done. She would at least have liked to remain friends, but she knew she no longer deserved such friendship. They arrived at the park gate and parted company with nothing more than a half smile between them.

‘Good luck,’ Alice whispered, and she watched him head back along The Mall, striding now like the naval officer he was, with the plans for Britain’s defences of East Anglia tucked neatly under his arm.

When Alice could no longer see him, she turned away and headed back into the park. It was a pleasant afternoon, and she thought a gentle stroll before heading back to Victoria railway station would be a good tonic for her nerves. She kept to the path now, ambling as though without purpose. A gentleman in grey with a tall top hat tipped it towards her as he passed in the opposite direction. She passed two nannies who had stopped beside their perambulators to chat, both of whom paused to wish her a good afternoon. Her thoughts drifted to better times—to when her own life had been as calm and carefree. She recalled numerous afternoon walks with her own perambulator, first when Chester was born and then with Charlotte. She found herself smiling at her memories, and she had become so caught up in the daydream that she almost bumped into someone.

‘Do excuse me,’ she said, stepping aside.

But the man did not excuse her, and it was only when he stepped with her to block her way that Alice looked up and took full measure of him. She recognised him at once. It was the man with the crooked nose who had pursued her in Dover. He wore the same tweed suit and black bowler hat.

At the sight of him, Alice startled, but she did not freeze. She turned and ran, holding the camera case as she went. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man reach for her. She felt a tug at her shoulder as he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him.

‘You’re not getting away from me this time!’

Alice struggled. Her arm began to slip out of her coat, but she could not free herself. With her other arm she took the camera off her shoulder and swung it wildly. The man ducked and his hat flew off, but his grip held.

‘I know what you’ve been doing. You’re coming along with me.’

Alice knew she could not let that happen. She struggled all the more, twisting and pulling against his grip until the buttons popped from her coat, and she slipped free of it. At the same time the man staggered back under his own force and fell to the ground. Alice ran for the trees then, aware that the disturbance had drawn attention.

‘Come back here!’

Alice looked over her shoulder and saw he was close. She reached the trees, not really knowing what to do now she was there. She just kept running, hoping to make the far gate before he caught up with her again. She thought she could lose him in the streets, but he was closing fast. She knew she wouldn’t make it.

‘You’re only making this worse for yourself !’

Given what Alice had done, she couldn’t imagine how her situation could be any worse. She would be shot for high treason for all she had done. The man sounded very close now, and Alice knew it would soon be over. But then she heard another voice that was followed by a heavy thump. She slowed and turned, and there was Raskin. The thump she had heard was the man in the tweed suit as he crashed to the ground following the blow the Dutchman had given him.

‘Chasing ladies in the park is not a very admirable pastime,’ Raskin said to the other man, who was already on his feet again.

‘You!’

Raskin nodded. ‘You’ve wanted me for a long time, haven’t you? Well, here I am.’

Alice thought the other man looked suddenly terrified. His eyes were wide, his skin pale, despite the chase. He looked as though he was about to run for his life, but Raskin lunged at him with great speed, both hands catching him around his neck. Alice swallowed dryly as she watched the smaller man pull something from inside his jacket. It was a knife. Its blade jabbed at Raskin, and the Dutchman caught the other man’s wrist, twisting the knife away until the man dropped it and cried out in pain.

‘Go!’

Alice knew Raskin was shouting the command at her, but fear had rooted her to the spot. She realised then that she was not afraid for herself, but for the man in the tweed suit. Raskin hit him to the ground, and before he could recover, Alice saw another flash of steel as Raskin pulled out his flensing knife. The curved steel shone brightly as Raskin leaped onto the man with murder in his eyes, and at last Alice ran.