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Authors: Elizabeth George
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quickly stepped outside onto the flagstones of the area at the base of the stairs from the pavement above them. She shut the door behind her.
She said, “We can’t tonight. Something’s come up. I would have rung your mobile but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”
He was nonplussed. Stupidly, he looked over her shoulder at the panels of the closed door. He said, “Who’s here?” because that much was obvious enough. Another man, he reckoned, and in that he was right, although it was not a man he expected.
“Bob,” she said.
Her former husband. How could this, he wondered, possibly be a problem? “And?” he enquired pleasantly.
“Thomas, it’s awkward. Sandra’s with him. The boys as well.”
Bob’s wife. The twin sons that were Isabelle’s own, children of her five-year marriage. They were eight years old and he’d had yet to meet them. As far as he knew, they’d not even been in to London to see her.
He said, “This is good, Isabelle. He’s brought them to you, then?”
“You don’t understand,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting—”
“I know that, obviously. So I’ll meet them, we’ll have dinner, and I’ll leave.”
“He doesn’t know about you.”
“Who?”
“Bob. I’ve not told him. This was all a surprise. He and Sandra have come into town for some sort of dinner. A big affair. They’re dressed to the nines. They’ve brought the boys and they thought we could have a visit—the boys and I—while they’re at this event.”
“They didn’t phone you first? What if you hadn’t even been at home? What would he have done with them then? Have them wait in the car while he went to dinner?”
She looked irritated. “You know, that’s hardly important, Thomas. The fact is, I am at home and they’re here in London. I’ve not seenthe boys in weeks, this is the first time he’s actually allowing me to be alone with them, and I have no intention of—”
“What?” He looked at her more evenly now. She was pinched round the mouth. He knew what this meant. She was wanting a drink and the last thing she’d now be able to do was to have one. “What is it you suppose I’d do, Isabelle? Corrupt them with my dissolute ways?”
“Don’t be difficult. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Tell them I’m your colleague, then.”
“A colleague with the key to my door?”
“For the love of God, if he knows I have the key to your door—”
“He doesn’t. And he won’t. I told him I thought I heard someone knock and I’ve come to check if anyone’s at the door.”
“Are you aware you’re contradicting yourself?” Again, he looked beyond her shoulder to the door. He said, “Isabelle, is there someone else in there? Not Bob at all? Not his wife? Not the boys?”
She drew herself taller. She was six feet tall, nearly his height, and he knew what it meant when she made the most of that fact. “What are you suggesting?” she demanded. “That I’ve another lover? God in heaven. I can
not
believe you’re doing this. You know what this means to me. These are my children. You’ll meet them and Bob and Sandra and God only knows who else when I’m ready and not before. Now I’ve got to get back inside before he comes to see what’s happening, and you’ve got to go. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“And if I walk in anyway? You leave me out here, I use the key, I come inside? What then?” Even as he spoke the words, he couldn’t believe it of himself. His dignity seemed to have gone the way of his brains, his patience, and his self-control.
She knew it. He could see
that
in her eyes no matter what else she was able to hide from him so well. She said, “Let’s forget you said that,” and she went inside, leaving him to cope with what looked every moment more like a tantrum thrown by a five-year-old.
God, what had he been thinking? he wondered. Thomas Lynley, detective inspector of New Scotland Yard, titled member of the landed gentry, graduate of Oxford
She said, “We can’t tonight. Something’s come up. I would have rung your mobile but I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”
He was nonplussed. Stupidly, he looked over her shoulder at the panels of the closed door. He said, “Who’s here?” because that much was obvious enough. Another man, he reckoned, and in that he was right, although it was not a man he expected.
“Bob,” she said.
Her former husband. How could this, he wondered, possibly be a problem? “And?” he enquired pleasantly.
“Thomas, it’s awkward. Sandra’s with him. The boys as well.”
Bob’s wife. The twin sons that were Isabelle’s own, children of her five-year marriage. They were eight years old and he’d had yet to meet them. As far as he knew, they’d not even been in to London to see her.
He said, “This is good, Isabelle. He’s brought them to you, then?”
“You don’t understand,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting—”
“I know that, obviously. So I’ll meet them, we’ll have dinner, and I’ll leave.”
“He doesn’t know about you.”
“Who?”
“Bob. I’ve not told him. This was all a surprise. He and Sandra have come into town for some sort of dinner. A big affair. They’re dressed to the nines. They’ve brought the boys and they thought we could have a visit—the boys and I—while they’re at this event.”
“They didn’t phone you first? What if you hadn’t even been at home? What would he have done with them then? Have them wait in the car while he went to dinner?”
She looked irritated. “You know, that’s hardly important, Thomas. The fact is, I am at home and they’re here in London. I’ve not seenthe boys in weeks, this is the first time he’s actually allowing me to be alone with them, and I have no intention of—”
“What?” He looked at her more evenly now. She was pinched round the mouth. He knew what this meant. She was wanting a drink and the last thing she’d now be able to do was to have one. “What is it you suppose I’d do, Isabelle? Corrupt them with my dissolute ways?”
“Don’t be difficult. This has nothing to do with you.”
“Tell them I’m your colleague, then.”
“A colleague with the key to my door?”
“For the love of God, if he knows I have the key to your door—”
“He doesn’t. And he won’t. I told him I thought I heard someone knock and I’ve come to check if anyone’s at the door.”
“Are you aware you’re contradicting yourself?” Again, he looked beyond her shoulder to the door. He said, “Isabelle, is there someone else in there? Not Bob at all? Not his wife? Not the boys?”
She drew herself taller. She was six feet tall, nearly his height, and he knew what it meant when she made the most of that fact. “What are you suggesting?” she demanded. “That I’ve another lover? God in heaven. I can
not
believe you’re doing this. You know what this means to me. These are my children. You’ll meet them and Bob and Sandra and God only knows who else when I’m ready and not before. Now I’ve got to get back inside before he comes to see what’s happening, and you’ve got to go. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.”
“And if I walk in anyway? You leave me out here, I use the key, I come inside? What then?” Even as he spoke the words, he couldn’t believe it of himself. His dignity seemed to have gone the way of his brains, his patience, and his self-control.
She knew it. He could see
that
in her eyes no matter what else she was able to hide from him so well. She said, “Let’s forget you said that,” and she went inside, leaving him to cope with what looked every moment more like a tantrum thrown by a five-year-old.
God, what had he been thinking? he wondered. Thomas Lynley, detective inspector of New Scotland Yard, titled member of the landed gentry, graduate of Oxford
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