Soldier No More

desperation which lay on the other side of cowardice, long after courage had been exhausted.

'It may not suit me. But you're sitting snug in there—' he mustn't laugh at his own joke '—and I'm out here in the open. And if I'm not clever I'm going to end up in the Tower of London—or somewhere less picturesque. And that suits me even less.'

'What do you know about'd'Auberon?' This time there was no delay.

'I know what Sir Eustace Avery wants me to know.' Roche fished unashamedly for more information. 'Do you still want me to go ahead?'

Genghis Khan digested the question in silence, while Roche observed the two children and the dog reappear in the distance.

'Do you still want me to go ahead?' Roche sharpened his voice to emphasise the question. If Genghis Khan had any lingering doubts about his loyalty, that ought to put them dummy5

finally at rest: it was exactly the sort of question a loyal Comrade should ask, offering a willingness to fail the British, and lose his chances of promotion, on the Comrades' behalf.

'Avery and Clinton expect the man Audley to obtain one of the copies d'Auberon took ... of certain documents —that is correct?' Once again Genghis Khan bypassed half a dozen of the questions Roche had expected.

'That's right.' So the Comrades did know all about d'Auberon

—but were considerably less well-informed about Audley!

'What makes them so sure that he can do this for them?' It was slightly disconcerting to hear genuine uncertainty in the man's voice.

'Yes. . . well, there's a bit of a problem there.' But at least the questions were coming in the right sequence this time. 'It was going to be easy, they thought—'

Easy?'

So they thought. But maybe it wouldn't have been so easy, at that.'

'How—easy?' Genghis Khan brushed aside Roche's doubts.

'What was he going to do?'

'He was just going to get them out of his bank—or wherever they were—and hand them over.'

'Audley?'

'That's right. In return for letting him back into the service—

with promotion backdated, and all that . . . That was what they were banking on all along, of course . . . But I'm inclined dummy5

to think it wouldn't have been quite as straightforward as that

—'

' Audley had one of the copies?' Genghis Khan was still struggling with information which plainly astonished him.

Well—so much the better! An astonished Genghis Khan was almost as vulnerable as a wasp-stung one.

'You didn't know that? He owed d'Auberon a big favour, from back in '44, during the war—d'Auberon saved his life apparently, and this was the repayment . . . And that's why it might have been difficult, getting him to sell the man out to the British. I think it could have been done. . . strictly in d'Auberon's best interest, you know, now that the cat's out of the bag.' It struck Roche as ironic that the arguments he might have used on Audley were almost identical with those Audley was proposing for d'Auberon. 'It might have worked.' It might have worked with Audley, anyway; but the very fact Audley wanted him to do the dirty work with d'Auberon, with no mention of his part in the plan, cast further doubt on it now. 'You didn't know Audley had a copy, then?'

He listened to his own words, and they were still exactly the right mixture of arrogance and obsequiousness.

'What has he done with the documents?' It was to Genghis Khan's credit that his voice was back in neutral so quickly.

'He's given them back—d'Auberon asked for them. That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't think I was intended dummy5

to be in on the d'Auberon part of the operation—I suspect they were going to get Audley to London, and then pop the question to him there. But someone's been talking, and the British had to accelerate things . . . and I was here, on the spot. . . But they were still just a few hours too late, as it turned out. That's my reading of what's happened—especially after Meriel Stephanides ran out of road.'

At once, and quite naturally, the question he had left behind appeared in front of him again, like an open goal- mouth rewarded to him by attacking play. 'Which reminds me . . .

you never did get round to filling me in on that little matter, did you? Or do I have to settle for a tragic accident?'

The children were back on the road again, chasing the dog, which still had the ball clenched between its jaws.

'Well?' In this changed situation the man's silence emboldened him to press his advantage. 'I can't stand here forever like a spare prick, old boy. Either brief me or de-brief me, or let me go and try my luck with Clinton's man— he'll be a damned sight more forthcoming than you are, I hope.'

The dog dropped the ball between its paws and taunted the children noisily. At least it was enjoying the game more than the man in the van..

'He-gave-it-back?' Genghis Khan spaced the words with doubt.