A cruel deception, p.29
A Cruel Deception,
p.29
I said, “Just as well. It will be easier on Lieutenant Minton and his mother, if they don’t have to face him in a trial.”
“And you, Mademoiselle?” He waited for my answer.
“I must go back to my patients in England. It’s where I belong.”
He nodded. “That’s for the best.” He glanced at a file on his desk, but didn’t open it. “You were involved in another matter in Paris. Before the war ended.”
“Yes. Again, not by choice.”
“Have a safe journey, Mademoiselle.”
I took that to mean I was to stay out of trouble for the remainder of my visit.
I intended to do just that.
With nothing to keep me in Paris, I arranged to leave the next day. My father was unable to accompany me after all. He was needed at the negotiations. I said my farewells to Dr. and Madame Moreau and to the cook and maid, before going up to tell Lawrence and his mother good-bye.
He was rather gruff. “I have some regrets,” he said, giving me his good hand. I knew he was talking about what had happened in St. Ives. “I lost my way, and I couldn’t find it again.”
“Well,” I said, smiling. “It’s behind us, now, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Matron said good-bye as well. “There are orders waiting for you in London.”
I didn’t ask what they were. It could wait until I was in London. I still had decisions to make. In case.
As Dr. Moreau carried my valise out to the taxi, I saw that Captain Jackson was waiting by the door.
“It’s just as well for you to be escorted to the coast,” he told me. “Look what happens, ma’am, when I let you out of my sight.”
“You’re going to England?” I asked, not expecting that.
“No, ma’am, I’m planning on staying in France a little longer. But I’d feel better seeing you step on that ferry bound for Dover.”
Exasperated and amused, I said, “Oh, very well. I might as well have someone to talk to.”
He grinned. “You know I’d just sit there in the next compartment, if you didn’t care to speak to me. Oh, and Captain Barkley asked me to tell you good-bye, and that he was sorry he never got an opportunity to come to Paris.”
As it happened, the Captain made the journey a pleasant one, and he kept his word, carrying my valise down to the salon before leaving the ferry.
We were saying good-bye, they were waiting to cast off, and he said, “I don’t know that I’m supposed to tell you this, Bess. But if you see Simon, please give him my regards.”
He turned, was down the gangway in those long strides of his, out of reach on the dock below. And the crew were just waiting to swing it aboard.
I shouted over the cries of the gulls, “How do you know Simon?”
“Oh, we ran into each other a time or two during the war. I rescued him once when he was trapped behind the lines. A quick in and out,” he shouted back.
“Did he ask you to keep an eye on me? Is that why you were in Calais when I arrived? Where is he?”
But the ship was pulling away from the dock, the engines making their own racket.
And Captain Jackson stood there, grinning up at me as he answered. But I couldn’t hear what he was saying.
About the Author
CHARLES TODD is the author of the Bess Crawford mysteries, the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, they live on the East Coast.
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Also by Charles Todd
THE IAN RUTLEDGE MYSTERIES
A Test of Wills
Wings of Fire
Search the Dark
Legacy of the Dead
Watchers of Time
A Fearsome Doubt
A Cold Treachery
A Long Shadow
A False Mirror
A Pale Horse
A Matter of Justice
The Red Door
A Lonely Death
The Confession
Proof of Guilt
Hunting Shadows
A Fine Summer’s Day
No Shred of Evidence
Racing the Devil
The Gatekeeper
The Black Ascot
A Divided Loyalty
THE BESS CRAWFORD MYSTERIES
A Duty to the Dead
An Impartial Witness
A Bitter Truth
An Unmarked Grave
A Question of Honor
An Unwilling Accomplice
A Pattern of Lies
The Shattered Tree
A Casualty of War
A Forgotten Place
OTHER FICTION
The Murder Stone
The Walnut Tree
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A CRUEL DECEPTION. Copyright © 2019 by Charles Todd. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Cover design by Yeon Kim
Cover photographs © Ladiras/istock/Getty images (bridge); © Ildiko Neer/Trevillion Images (woman); © Sirisak_baokaew/Shutterstock (Sky)
FIRST EDITION
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-285986-0
Version 09032019
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-285983-9
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Charles Todd, A Cruel Deception
