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By Root 553 0

will meet again, Maisie.” She paused. “Let me tell you something that Greville said to me, during one of those ‘how are your classes progressing’ conversations in his office. He said that in his estimation we do not pay enough attention to the past, and that one of his fears was that in 1914 we had become a reflection of history when we embarked upon what could be considered another European Thirty Years’ War. He wanted to do his part to nip that progression in the bud. It’s an interesting theory, don’t you think? We both understand that the war of words, of economics, and of underhand activity goes on. The front line is still there, though the trenches look a little different.”

Maisie felt a chill go through her, and touched the place on her neck, the constant reminder of the wounds of that past war, so long ago now, but remembered at times as if it were yesterday.

The Thurlow family had moved into the property left to Ursula by Rose Linden. The sons had constructed a wooden ramp to allow their mother’s chair to be wheeled in and out with ease, and the family seemed to have already made the house their home, and had brought the garden back to its former glory. At Maisie’s request, Andrew Dene saw Ursula at his new clinic in Harley Street, and thereafter arranged a series of tests to discover whether anything could be done about her condition. He spoke to Maisie before taking the news to Ursula’s family.

“I’m sorry, Maisie, but not much is known about this disease. Sometimes it takes its time to have an effect and the patient seems to go from remission to a sort of attack. Sometimes they live full and productive lives without noticing anything more than tingling in the fingers, and some fatigue. Then there are the other cases where the decline is more rapid. I think Ursula is somewhere in the middle of those extremes. We’ve struggled to understand how it all goes wrong; how the brain’s messages get misdirected.”

“How can the family help her—are there any medications?”

“I can prescribe medicine for pain, should it come—and it develops mainly from being bed- or chair-bound for so long; sores and so on. Otherwise, I would say that she must live a very balanced life—no surprises, no shocks, a good diet. Unlike many of my fellow doctors who think milk is the source of all solutions, I would suggest a limited intake of those kinds of foods. But I will be speaking to colleagues in France later this year—they’ve done a lot of research on this type of sclerosis.”

Maisie nodded and thanked Dene. “Send me the bill, Andrew.”

He shook his head. “No account—she’s a dear lady and deserves to be helped, if help can be found.”

She visited Clarence Chen in Limehouse, and took tea with Jennifer Penhaligon at Somerville College, though they did not linger on the subject of her former student, Francesca Thomas. One by one, place by place, Maisie returned to the roots of her investigation, and watched, again, German citizens now living in London gathering at Cleveland Terrace for a meeting of the Ortsgruppe. She hoped Huntley and the men he advised would pay attention in time—though she was afraid time was slipping through their fingers while they looked elsewhere for threats to the realm.

Stratton met her at the café on Oxford Street where they had often lingered to discuss their shared cases. They had always described it as “more caff than café.” They sat down at a table close to the window, each with a cup of strong tea and a round of buttered toast and jam.

“I can’t believe you’ve decided to leave the police, Richard—so soon after moving to Special Branch.”

“I can hardly believe it myself, to tell you the truth. But MacFarlane is a difficult man to work with, and that brought other considerations to a head.”

“Your boy?”

“He was only three years old when his mother died, and the past few years have not been without problems—for both of us. My mother stepped in to help, and he goes to stay with his mother’s parents for a couple of weeks each summer, but time seems to be passing so quickly. I thought transferring to Special Branch