To Charm a Bluestocking by Renée Dahlia

Author:Renée Dahlia [Dahlia, Renée]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781489239112
Goodreads: 34295970
Publisher: Escape Publishing
Published: 2017-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Three days later and Nicholas arrived back in Amsterdam. The salty air and the harsh scent of coal from the steam ships at the docks filled his nostrils. He’d spent too long in Rotterdam piecing together the Van Percy puzzle. He longed to see Josephine. Unfortunately, work had to take precedence. The information he had unearthed needed to be presented to the right people as quickly as possible. He had to act. As the train pulled into the station, he stood at the door tapping it with his knuckles. The train slowed, almost to a halt. He wrenched open the doors and jumped onto the platform. Behind him, he heard the train come to a proper stop. The shuffle as the other passengers disembarked in a more correct fashion. Nicholas didn’t look back. He raced down the platform, and ran along the street towards the main police administrative building.

He arrived at the large whitewashed building, his chest heaving with effort. He leant over the front counter, resting on his forearms.

‘I must see … Chief Superintendent Koekje.’ He stared at the clerk with his most foreboding expression. His breath rapid. ‘It is a matter … of some urgency … I hope to God he is here.’

‘Ahh, yes,’ stammered the clerk, ‘he is here.’ Nicholas raced down the corridor. While waiting for the train back to Amsterdam, he had paced at the station with nervous impatience. Even the train ride, the fastest possible, was too slow. The clerk called down the corridor after him.

‘Sir, sir, he is in a meeting. You can’t go in.’

A guard stood to attention outside Koekje’s office and moved to place himself in front of the door as he saw Nicholas running towards him. Nicholas wasn’t going to stop for any guard and used his strength to gain access to the office.

‘St. George. What?’ Koekje said.

‘No time,’ he blurted out. ‘I’ve just come from Rotterdam. The New Unions are planning a protest at the port to coincide with the arrival of …’

A portly gentleman with a giant moustache cleared his throat in a pretentious fashion and sneered at Nicholas.

‘Who exactly are you? You can’t just barge in here with your dreadful clothing.’

‘Sir Bruno,’ Koekje said in his typical measured tone. ‘Allow me to present Lord St. George, son of England’s Duke of Tulloch. He has infiltrated the socialist movement, hence his appalling attire. I expect we ought to listen carefully to him. He is not typically prone to grandiose statements.’

‘Thank you,’ Nicholas said, bowing slightly to give him time to catch his breath. For God’s sake, the unions planned a riot for today or tomorrow and this old boffin wanted his credentials. The cynical side of him rather enjoyed the effect that the mention of His Grace made. He spoke with the precision that he had been trained, highlighting his professionalism in the face of Sir Bruno’s derision.

‘As Koekje states, for some time I have followed several socialist leaders across England and Europe and have created dossiers on each of them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.