Page 37 of Fire Must Burn

‘I did,’ said Gwen. ‘What’s happening at lunch today?’

‘Miss Lowle is coming in for a briefing.’

‘Ah. Wonderful,’ said Gwen with a grimace of distaste. ‘How do we do that?’

‘She asks us what she needs to know, and we tell her. Then we give her contact information to Tony.’

‘And then we’re done.’

‘And then we’re done.’

‘Unless he’s exonerated,’ said Gwen. ‘In which case, we have to make a genuine effort to find him a wife.’

‘Right,’ said Iris.

‘You’re sounding more dubious about that prospect today,’ said Gwen.

‘The idea of Tony settling down after his extremely adventurous life doesn’t seem a likely possibility,’ said Iris.

‘People change,’ said Gwen. ‘He may be more realistic about his prospects now.’

‘Or he’s slithering his way up the ladder of authority, if the Brigadier is correct,’ said Iris. ‘We shall see.’

The Miss Lowle who arrived a few minutes after their lunch hour began was a different Miss Lowle from the one they had first met. Her manner was now almost brusque in her address and questions, and her accent could have passed for upper-crust London in its tones.

Is that her true voice, or another character being done for our benefit? wondered Gwen.

‘So he took the bait?’ Lowle asked.

‘He signed up for our services,’ said Sparks. ‘We normally send a letter to the gentleman with the lady’s telephone number. Do you want us to use your number at the ministry?’

‘Yes, that would be best,’ she said. ‘I don’t want my new landlady getting nosy about all this. How did Danforth seem to you about the idea?’

‘Interested,’ said Sparks.

‘Ironic,’ added Mrs Bainbridge.

‘What do you mean by that?’ asked Lowle.

‘He is amused by what we do,’ said Mrs Bainbridge. ‘On the one hand, he seems genuinely interested in finding a partner in life. But on the other, he thinks finding one through a professional agency is strange.’

‘Then I shall feel the same about it,’ said Lowle. ‘A mutual disdain for the norms, covering what? Some real loneliness underneath, right?’

‘That’s … that’s actually good,’ said Sparks, impressed in spite of herself.

‘What about the war?’ asked Lowle. ‘Is that something he likes to talk about?’

‘Not so far,’ said Sparks. ‘He didn’t want to talk about Spain when he got back from that one, and he was fairly close-mouthed about China when I saw him the other night. Mindyou, given the clandestine nature of his assignments there, he may not discuss it at all.’

‘But he’s been overseas for eight years,’ she said. ‘It would be natural for me to be curious about that, having never been.’

‘Just don’t pry,’ advised Sparks. ‘You’re not going to get much out of him at first meeting. Your objective is to get a second date, then a third, and so on.’

‘String him along, keep him interested,’ said Lowle. ‘Make him fall in love with me if I can. What sort of woman attracts him?’

The two partners didn’t answer.

‘Well, come on, then,’ said Lowle irritably. ‘I can’t go into this blindfolded.’