The Rembrandt Affair

'You're sure?' Gabriel pressed.

'I'm sure.' Lena looked at the painting. 'You put a prayer to my sister inside it?'

'Here,' said Chiara, pointing to the center of the bottom portion of the frame.

'It will stay with her always?'

'The museum has promised to keep it there forever,' said Gabriel.

Lena took a hesitant step forward. 'I was never able to say good-bye to her that night in Amsterdam. There wasn't time.' She looked at Gabriel. 'May I touch her? One final time?'

'Carefully,' said Gabriel.

Lena reached out and traced her finger slowly over the dark hair. Then she touched the bottom of the frame and walked silently from the room.

THE UNVEILING had been scheduled for eight, but due to circumstances never explained to the guests it was closer to half past before Portrait of a Young Woman was carried into the rotunda, cloaked in her shroud of baize. Unexpectedly, Gabriel felt as nervous as a playwright on opening night. He found a hiding place with Isherwood and Chiara at the edge of the crowd and stared at his shoes during several long and deeply boring speeches. Finally, the lights dimmed and the covering came off to tumultuous applause. Chiara kissed his cheek and said, 'They adore it, Gabriel. Look around you, darling. They don't realize it, but they're cheering for you.'

Gabriel looked up but immediately managed to find the one person in the crowd who was not clapping. She was a woman in her mid-thirties with dark hair, olive-complected skin, and intoxicating green eyes that were focused directly on him. She raised a glass of champagne in his direction and mouthed the words, 'Well done, Gabriel.' Then she handed the glass to a passing waiter and headed toward the exit.

79 WASHINGTON, D.C.

'You never told me how much I look like her,' said Zoe.

'Like Hendrickje?' Gabriel shrugged. 'You're much prettier than she is.'

'I'm sure you say that to all the girls.'

'Only the ones I place in great danger.'

Zoe laughed. They were walking along the edge of the Mall, the vast dome of the Capitol floating before them, the Washington Monument rising at their backs. Paris, Greece, and Egypt, thought Gabriel, all in the space of a few hundred yards. He looked at Zoe carefully. She was wearing an elegant evening gown, similar to the one she had worn to Martin's party, and a slender strand of pearls at her throat. Despite everything she had been through, she appeared relaxed and happy. It seemed to Gabriel that the burden of deception had been lifted from her shoulders. She was Zoe before the lies. Zoe before Martin.

'I didn't realize you were planning to come.'

'I wasn't,' she said. 'But I decided I couldn't miss it.'

'How did you manage to get a ticket?'

'Membership has its privileges, darling.'

'You should have let me know.'

'And how might I have done that? Call you? Drop you an e-mail or a text message?' She smiled. 'Do you even have an e-mail address?'

'Actually, I do. But it doesn't work like a normal account.'

'What a surprise,' said Zoe. 'How about a mobile phone? Do you carry one?'

'Only under duress.'

'Mine's been acting up on me. You're not doing anything funny to it, are you?'

'You're off the grid, Zoe.'

'I'm not sure I'll ever think of my phone quite the same way.'

'You shouldn't.'

They crossed the stone esplanade separating the main building of the National Gallery from its east wing.

'Do you always bring members of your team to openings or is that gorgeous creature on your arm tonight your wife?' Zoe gave him a sideways glance and smiled. 'I do believe you're blushing, Mr. Allon. If you'd like, I can teach you a few tricks of the trade to help you better conceal your emotions.'

Gabriel was silent.

'Is this the part where you're going to remind me that you demand truthfulness in others while concealing yourself behind a cloak of lies?'

'I'm not at liberty to discuss my personal life, Zoe.'

'So we're not all going to be friends?'

'I'm afraid it doesn't work that way.'

'Too bad,' she said. 'I always liked her. And, for the record, when we were all in Highgate together you two did a damn lousy job of hiding the fact you're madly in love.'

'There is no safe house in Highgate, Zoe.'

'Ah, yes, I forgot.'

Gabriel changed the subject. 'You look lovely, Zoe. New York obviously agrees with you.'

'I still haven't managed to find a decent cup of tea.'

'No second thoughts about leaving the newspaper business?'

'There is no newspaper business,' Zoe said acidly. 'What did you think of Martin's performance at Davos?'

'I sleep easier at night knowing that Martin is optimistic about our future.'

'Has he been behaving himself?'

'I hear he's been a model prisoner.'

'What's going on with the centrifuges?'

'There are no centrifuges, Zoe, at least none where Martin is concerned. Martin never puts a foot wrong. He's pure of heart and noble of intent. He's a saint.'

'And to think I actually fell for that bilge.'

'From our point of view, we're very glad you did.' Gabriel smiled and guided her toward the main building. 'Have you heard from him?'

'Martin? Not a peep. But it galls me to no end that he's actually going to get away with it. After what he and Muller did to Mikhail, I wish I could bring them down myself.'

'You're still covered by the Official Secrets Act, Zoe. Even here in America.'

'The MI6 station in Washington reminds me of that on a regular basis.' Zoe smiled and asked about Mikhail.

'From what I hear, he's like new.'

'Just like the Rembrandt?'

'I doubt Mikhail needed as much work as the Rembrandt.'

'Do send him my best. I'm afraid I still see his face in my dreams every night.'

'It won't last forever.'

'Yes,' she said distantly, 'that's what the MI5 psychiatrists told me.'

They had reached the gallery's front entrance. Chiara and Isherwood were waiting outside with Lena Herzfeld.

'Who's the woman with your wife?'

'She's the reason we recruited you,' Gabriel said.

'Lena?'

Gabriel nodded. 'Would you like to meet her?'

'If it's all right with you, I'll just admire her from afar.' Zoe hailed a passing taxi. 'If you ever need someone to do another dangerous job, you know where to find me.'