She Came Back

“Rather taking my character away, aren’t you, Joan?”

And with that her look crossed Philip’s. The two pairs of grey eyes, so much alike, glanced together, and glanced away. There was just a moment, then Philip drained his cup and came over to set it down on the tray. “Well, I must go and work,” he said.

CHAPTER 24

Garth Albany came into Philip’s room at the War Office next morning. He raised an eyebrow at the girl clerk and Philip sent her away. Garth, having been somewhat against his will absorbed into Military Intelligence, might very easily wish to dispense with even the most confidential clerk.

But when they were alone Garth still stood there on the far side of the desk. He had picked up a piece of red sealing-wax and was looking down at it with frowning intensity.

Philip sat back in his chair.

“Anything wrong with my sealing-wax?”

Garth put it down in a hurry.

“No. Look here, Philip, I’ve come on a damned awkward errand, and I don’t know where to begin-that’s the truth oï it.”

Philip’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“First rules of composition,” he murmured-“you begin at the begi

Garth looked darkly at him.

“It’s damned awkward,” he said. He pulled up a chair and sat down, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. “The fact is they’ve sent me along because of the family co

Without any change of expression Philip said,

“I suppose it’s something about A

Garth registered relief. Once you got the ice broken you could say anything. He hadn’t relished the job of breaking it. He knew Philip’s obstinate pride. What neither he nor anyone else would ever know for certain was just how much of it stirred and stood on guard under that easy, languid ma

Philip said, “Well?” and he had to start out in the dark. He said abruptly,

“They’re not satisfied. It’s this business of your having thought she was dead, and then her turning up after all this time. The D.M.I, wants to see you about it. I’m just an advance delegation, so to speak. The fact is, it’s a beastly job and they’ve shoved it on to me.”

“Go on.”

“Well, as you know, there’s a certain amount of coming and going across the Cha

“Yes?”

“It says what you know already, that Theresa Jocelyn was living at the Château de Mornac with her adopted daughter, Miss Joyce. A

“Yes, I knew all that. I suppose you’ve heard A

Garth looked unhappy.

“I’m afraid there’s more to it than that-according to the report. It says A

“Is that all?”

“There’s one thing more. After her return from the concentration camp the Germans left her alone. There were no visits, no contacts.”

Philip said very coolly, “You’d have damned her if there had been contacts. Are you going to damn her because there weren’t any?”

“No-no, of course not. Philip, are you absolutely sure she is A

“Yes, I was sure-quite sure, that she wasn’t A

Garth appeared to be incapable of speech. He stared.

Philip went on.

“I was as sure of it as you can be of anything. She was utterly strange to me. I couldn’t believe that she had ever been my wife. She looked like A

“What happened last night?”

“A girl came in. She’d been one of A

Garth had turned round in his chair. He looked seriously at Philip and wondered what he should say. Before he could make up his mind Philip spoke again.

“We’re living under the same roof, but we’re not living together. There’s nothing between us. She’s a stranger.”

“Am I to tell the D.M.I, that?”

“I don’t know. I shall have to tell him myself, if it comes to that, because behind all this business of your fellow’s report there’s the suggestion that A