He stepped out on to thin ice. ‘Will you stay in the Time Police?’
She smiled. ‘If I want to.’
‘The smart money says you’ll be running the place one day.’ And could have kicked himself again. That might now never happen.
She changed the subject for him. ‘And what about you, sir?’
‘Celia, if I have to call you Celia then I’m sure you can call me Matthew.’
‘All right. What about you, Matthew? Do you want to run the Time Police?’
‘Well, possibly. One day. Although I look at what Hay goes through every day and I’m not sure I could handle it. The urge to make stupidity a capital offense would be overwhelming. And as for dealing with all those politicians and other idiots . . .’
He broke off, remembering, possibly slightly too late, that Miss North’s mother was an important if undisclosed member of the government of this Time, and slightly changed the subject. ‘We could approach the top job by different paths. It could be interesting, don’t you think, to find ourselves competing for Hay’s job one day?’
She looked at him speculatively. ‘Yes, one day I may have to consider the necessity of moving you out of my path.’
‘I look forward to seeing you try.’
They both smiled at each other.
Seeing the smile, he was content to leave the subject, saying, ‘Do you feel sorry for them? Your brothers, I mean.’
‘No – Archie is hard-working and conscientious. He’ll make the best of it and be an excellent Earl of Blackbourne. Davey will turn his energies to something constructive – Mama will see to that. It all seems a bit gloomy at the moment but they’ll survive. I’ll survive. We all do, don’t we?’
‘We do,’ he said, putting his glass down. ‘And speaking of surviving, I’ve had an idea.’
She threw him an amused look. ‘Not “a brilliant idea”?’
‘Well, modesty forbids me saying “yes”, but yes.’
She laughed. ‘Go on then, tell me this brilliant idea.’
‘Well, not so long ago – before you joined the TP – we enjoyed – or endured, however you want to describe it – the presence of a certain Dr Maxwell from St Mary’s. She was with us for another reason completely, but her cover was to provide us with historical context. Surprisingly, the cover proved quite successful. She remembered her audience and kept things brief and punchy – a quick resumé of the circumstances leading up to whatever particular event we were about to investigate – what we could expect to find when we got there – and even a quick “what happened afterwards”, just to give us some perspective. There was a certain amount of resistance – we’re the Time Police, after all – but there’s no doubt that the more thoughtful officers found it very useful. I was wondering – and feel free to say no if you want to, because it’s only an idea – whether you couldn’t do something very similar. Provide historical briefings. You’ve done it before and I think it would be of enormous benefit to the organisation as a whole and something you could make your very own. It’s something you’re uniquely qualified to do.’
He picked up his glass again and peered into the depths. ‘And having planted the idea in your mind, I shall leave you to think about it.’
‘Clever.’
‘I did the How to Get Your Own Way Without Leaving a Pile of Bleeding Corpses in Your Wake course last year. And, I have to say, continuing the modesty theme – I aced it.’
She laughed. ‘The irony is that I always said I’d get Maxwell’s job one day.’
‘Seriously, Celia, think about it.’
She nodded. ‘I will.’
She wasn’t given the time. Her two brothers appeared from the French windows and crossed the grass towards them.
Archie folded his arms and stared down at them. ‘There’s a sinister, black-clad individual at the front door who I feel sure is something to do with you two,’ he said. ‘He wants a word with Major Ellis.’
Ellis looked up in surprise. ‘He asked for me by name?’
‘He did. Davey will show you the way.’
Ellis put down his glass and got to his feet.
‘I left him in the hall,’ said Davey.
‘Unwise,’ said Ellis. ‘He’ll have had half your silver by now.’
Archie watched them walk away and then sat down in Ellis’s seat. ‘Want to tell me what’s going on?’
North shook her head. ‘Can’t. Sorry.’
‘No, not about the job, stupid. About what brought you here.’
‘Oh. Bit of a thing at work.’
‘No, not about the thing at work.’ He nodded meaningfully after Ellis. ‘Him.’
‘Oh. No, not really.’
‘OK, have it your own way, but you’ve been recalled, haven’t you?’
‘Looks like it.’
‘You’ll miss Mama this evening.’
‘Yes, tell her I’m sorry I didn’t get to see her this time.’
‘Are you in trouble?’
‘If you mean have I done something wrong, then no. I have a series of decisions to make, and I thought, heaven knows why, that a little peace and quiet might make things easier.’
‘And has it?’
She sighed. ‘I suspect I’m not going to get the chance to find out.’
Emerging ten minutes later, Ellis looked for North, who was still in the garden. ‘We’ve been recalled.’
‘Now?’
‘Immediately. No messing. They’re waiting for us.’
‘So,’ said Archie, to North. ‘You’re someone important.’
She headed towards the house. ‘Not really.’
The brothers looked at Ellis.
‘She is extremely important,’ said Ellis. ‘To many people. In many different ways. If you’ll excuse me, I must get my gear together.’
As he and Officer North walked back towards the woods he said, ‘I’m sorry I won’t get to meet your mother.’
‘Yes – given Parrish’s remarks on the advisability of meeting the mother before committing with the daughter – the missed opportunity is regrettable. From your point of view, of course.’
He said nothing. The jury was still out on the extent or even the existence of North’s sense of humour.