Jasmine Nights by Julia Gregson

Author:Julia Gregson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781409108115
Publisher: Orion
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

‘Mr Cleeve’s here,’ Ellie was standing at the door when Saba got home. She looked pale. She pointed upstairs towards the bedroom. ‘He came suddenly on the Cairo train. He’s having a little rest upstairs.’ There was a warning note in her voice. ‘Don’t forget to keep schtum about our other arrangements,’ she whispered, steering her into the sitting room. ‘It could spoil everything and I have some rather good news for you.

‘A big gin or a tiddler?’ Ellie pushed her gently into a chair. She drew the blackout curtains and lit a small lamp. ‘I’m going to have a big one – it’s been quite a busy day, and I’m dying to hear,’ she added in her more social voice, ‘about yours – do tell all.’

Saba looked at her and made a rapid calculation. If Cleeve were here, it would be safer to tell him and no one else about the Germans. Ellie was still such a new friend.

Ellie took a sip of her gin. ‘Saba, I’ll say this quickly before he comes.’ She lowered her voice and glanced towards the ceiling. ‘Damn!’ The sound of a chair moving across the floorboards. ‘I’ll have to tell you later – Dermot wants to talk over songs and recordings and things with you, so I’m going to make myself scarce.’ She stood up. ‘Can’t wait to hear what the house was like,’ she resumed in a brighter tone as Cleeve loped into the room carrying a briefcase in his hand.

‘My goodness.’ Cleeve put his head on one side in mock admiration and smiled at Saba. ‘What a stunning frock. I can see Madame E has performed her usual magic.’

‘Drink, Dermot?’ Ellie said quickly. ‘Then I’ll go up and change for supper and leave you both to it.’

‘Gin and it, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘Oh what heaven to be back in civilisation.’ He sank into a chair. ‘I sat on that bloody Cairo train for four hours,’ he complained. ‘They were loading all these cars for the big brass. One of the porters eventually switched on the wireless in one of them, so we could listen to some music, otherwise I would have been a mad person by now. Which reminds me.’ He gulped some gin and opened his briefcase. ‘Pressie for Saba,’ he said. ‘A Hoagy Carmichael recording. It was smuggled over from New York. Quite superb.’

The package sat in Saba’s lap.

‘Well open it,’ he said, crinkling his eyes.

‘Thank you,’ she said woodenly – Ellie was hovering at the door. ‘Perhaps later.’

‘Darlings, I’m off,’ said Ellie quickly. ‘See you at dinner. I’m glad you like the dress, Dermot.’ They could hear her scampering footsteps going upstairs.

‘She doesn’t know anything,’ Dermot said when the door had closed. ‘She’s only your dresser, and I would have arranged to meet you somewhere else tonight, but it was impossible to arrange transport. Are you hungry?’ he added in his conversational voice. ‘I’m starving. I could call for something.’

‘No,’ she said. She pulled her chair so that it faced him and looked him squarely in the eye.

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