rare indeed. In fact —'
'Spare me the castles, Dr Audley.'
'Very well.' He had never subscribed to the theory that angry women became more beautiful until now. But he saw also that she was not just angry. 'What I should have said is ... from Ewyas Harold to Hereford can't be more than ten or twelve miles, Miss Franklin. It's just. . . some people measure distance from one public house to the next. But my knowledge of the Welsh borders happens to be historical. So I measure from castle to castle, I'm afraid —'
'You should be afraid of more than that, Dr Audley — '
She was too busy matching Mitchell's fierce decelerations and accelerations to look at him, but her voice was as tightly-controlled as her driving ' — you should be afraid because we don't know where General Lukianov is right now — damn them!'
'Lukianov?' As Audley peered ahead the brake-lights of the Porsche glared at him suddenly, and he caught a glimpse of the vehicle beyond which had forced Mitchell to slow down.
'Yes . . . well I don't think you should worry too much there.
Not any more.'
'Why not?' They were suddenly on all of two hundred yards of straight road, down into a dip and then uphill towards a dummy1
crest. So she could actually frown at him.
He mustn't smile. 'Because he's finally caught up with that military convoy we tangled with near Monmouth.' He pointed ahead. 'See that truck just disappearing over the top
— and the motor-cyclist? He overtook us a few miles back.'
'Yes — ' She had switched back quickly to the road ahead
'but — ?'
'Nobody's going to try anything with the British Army leading the way — Lukianov or any of his clients. General Lukianov will be lying very low right now if he's anywhere on this road. Having the army ahead is providential, don't you think?' He paused deliberately. 'Or maybe it isn't.'
The army disappeared over the brow of the hill as he spoke, its place being taken an instant later by the Porsche. 'What d'you mean?'
'I mean — ' he hated the next bit ' — maybe your Mr Jaggard hasn't been so slow off the mark after all. If he had any sort of informal contact with their new man in the embassy, and they have any sort of idea what Lukianov might be up to ... They might have suggested that a military presence in this general area would be prudent, even if they don't know the exact map reference. Just vehicles and men swanning around would be enough . . . Not that it matters, either way — whether it's just our good luck or Henry being smart. It amounts to the same thing, because Lukianov won't know which. But he'll have to assume the worst — at least for the time being.'
dummy1
They breasted the hilltop in turn, and for a moment the countryside was spread out below them: a rich landscape fading into the rain-mist, as deceptively peaceful now as it would have seemed in those other treacherous times when the quadrilateral castles had been garrisoned to protect it from the Welsh — when Moscow had been no more than a muddy provincial town and the Middle East 'the Holy Land' of exotic crusading legend.
Then the rearmost of the army vehicles disappeared from sight among the trees and hedgerows, and the countryside closed in again on them as they descended on to the valley floor.
'Anyway, as long as we're behind them — ' An idea struck him, out of nowhere, as he broke the silence to reassure her, cutting him short.
The idea blossomed, as he tested it —
(They were slowing down now, because Mitchell had been again forced to slow down himself, at the tail-end of the convoy, which had itself telescoped into what must have been its original compactness before the traffic jams around Monmouth had opened it out. And, sooner or later on this twisty road, long before they reached the main road near Ewyas Harold, it would surely have to stop altogether. And that would be the moment —)
'Mary . . . whatever they're doing here — the military . . .'
He completed the test as he spoke: whether he was right or dummy1
wrong — or half-right, half-wrong, or whatever . . . and even if these really were the last days of Audley, if he was wrong, it didn't matter. Just as it didn't matter whether this military presence was due to Henry Jaggard or pure fluke.
'Most likely, if Jaggard hasn't had them ordered in, then they'll be on their way to an exercise in the Black Mountains.' He stared at her. 'So ... why don't we pull rank and cancel their exercise?'
'What —?'
