Death and Glory by Will Thomas

Author:Will Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 16

Back in our chambers, I made notes about our conversation with Mrs. Morgan while it was still fresh in my mind. The Guv was sitting at his desk, leafing through the Cyclopedia of Universal History again.

“How is Mrs. Llewelyn?” he asked suddenly.

We’d been married several years now, and he saw her every day, yet he still called her Mrs. Llewelyn. He is always very formal about women, my wife, especially. I believe it is because he is not generally comfortable around them.

“She is feeling better,” I replied. “She’s decided to spend the day at our house in Camomile Street. Our maid, Lily, is there if she needs anything, and Mrs. Mocatta shall be visiting today, I believe.”

“You despise your mother-in-law, if I recall,” the Guv said.

“I don’t despise her,” I argued. “You’ve got it backwards. She despises me. Not that she is my favorite person, mind you.”

He sat back in his chair with a creak of the leather.

“You should apologize to her, then,” he stated.

“Apologize?” I asked. “For what?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Barker replied. “She’ll respect you more if you are the first to heal the rift.”

I crossed my legs and started swinging the toe of my boot.

“Don’t do that,” he said. “It is distracting.”

“There is no rift,” I insisted, placing both of my feet on the ground. “There simply was never a time when I was acceptable to her.”

“Apologize for that, then,” he continued. “If you think long and hard about the matter, I’m sure you’ll find somewhere that you put your foot wrong. You must have done something to cause her enmity.”

I nodded. “Yes, I did. I had the gall to marry her daughter. And we both know I am not the late Asher Cowan, Rebecca’s first husband, who was a dazzling speaker and a member of Parliament. I am what I am and have always been. That I can’t change. Also, we belong to a church that welcomes both Jew and Gentile, though Rebecca does go to synagogue with her mother.”

“Then attend with them.”

“Are you saying I should convert to Judaism?”

“No,” he answered. “However, making an effort with Mrs. Mocatta might make the difference between outright rejection and guarded acceptance.”

“Make an effort, you say.”

“It cannot harm matters,” Barker said, tenting his fingers over his stomach.

“I shall consider it,” I replied. “But I’ll admit my heart is not in it.”

Barker shrugged his shoulder. He’d done his part by offering me his counsel. If I chose to follow his advice or reject it, the choice was mine.

“What’s our next step in the case?” I asked.

Barker stood and put the Cyclopedia of Universal History back on the shelf. “I’d like to speak with Pierce again.” He crossed the room to his smoking cabinet and filled a meerschaum with tobacco. He moved to the window and lit it, filling the alcove with smoke.

“How are we going to avoid our shadow across the street?” I asked, standing to stretch my legs. “He’ll follow us straight to the Home and Foreign Office. Then Woodson will find out and the jig is up.

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