Passenger to Frankfurt - Agatha Christie [39]
Stafford Nye turned his head towards the Security man. ‘What about it, Horsham?’ he said. ‘I can’t believe you’d agree with that?’
‘Why not?’ said Henry Horsham.
‘Indeed? What are my “qualities”, as you call them? I can’t, quite frankly, believe in them myself.’
‘You’re not a hero-worshipper,’ said Horsham. ‘That’s why. You’re the kind who sees through humbug. You don’t take anyone at their own or the world’s valuation. You take them at your own valuation.’
Ce n’est pas un garçon sérieux. The words floated through Sir Stafford Nye’s mind. A curious reason for which to be chosen for a difficult and exacting job.
‘I’ve got to warn you,’ he said, ‘that my principal fault, and one that’s been frequently noticed about me and which has cost me several good jobs is, I think, fairly well known. I’m not, I should say, a sufficiently serious sort of chap for an important job like this.’
‘Believe it or not,’ said Mr Horsham, ‘that’s one of the reasons why they want you. I’m right, my lord, aren’t I?’ He looked towards Lord Altamount.
‘Public service!’ said Lord Altamount. ‘Let me tell you that very often one of the most serious disadvantages in public life is when people in a public position take themselves too seriously. We feel that you won’t. Anyway,’ he said, ‘Mary Ann thinks so.’
Sir Stafford Nye turned his head. So here she was, no longer a countess. She had become Mary Ann again.
‘You don’t mind my asking,’ he said, ‘but who are you really? I mean, are you a real countess.’
‘Absolutely. Geboren, as the Germans say. My father was a man of pedigree, a good sportsman, a splendid shot, and had a very romantic but somewhat dilapidated castle in Bavaria. It’s still there, the castle. As far as that goes, I have connections with that large portion of the European world which is still heavily snobbish as far as birth is concerned. A poor and shabby countess sits down first at the table whilst a rich American with a fabulous fortune in dollars in the bank is kept waiting.’
‘What about Daphne Theodofanous? Where does she come in?’
‘A useful name for a passport. My mother was Greek.’
‘And Mary Ann?’
It was almost the first smile Stafford Nye had seen on her face. Her eyes went to Lord Altamount and from him to Mr Robinson.
‘Perhaps,’ she said, ‘because I’m a kind of maid-of-all-work, going places, looking for things, taking things from one country to another, sweeping under the mat, do anything, go anywhere, clear up the mess.’ She looked towards Lord Altamount again. ‘Am I right, Uncle Ned?’
‘Quite right, my dear. Mary Ann you are and always will be to us.’
‘Were you taking something on that plane? I mean taking something important from one country to another?’
‘Yes. It was known I was carrying it. If you hadn’t come to my rescue, if you hadn’t drunk possibly poisoned beer and handed over your bandit cloak of bright colours as a disguise, well, accidents happen sometimes. I shouldn’t have got here.’
‘What were you carrying–or mustn’t I ask? Are there things I shall never know?’
‘There are a lot of things you will never know. There are a lot of things you won’t be allowed to ask. I think that question of yours I shall answer. A bare answer of fact. If I am allowed to do so.’
Again she looked at Lord Altamount.
‘I trust your judgment,’ said Lord Altamount. ‘Go ahead.’
‘Give him the dope,’ said the irreverent James Kleek.
Mr Horsham said, ‘I suppose you’ve got to know. I wouldn’t tell you, but then I’m Security. Go ahead, Mary Ann.’
‘One sentence. I was bringing a birth certificate. That’s all. I don’t tell you any more and it won’t be any use your asking any more questions.’
Stafford Nye looked round the assembly.
‘All right. I’ll join. I’m flattered at your asking me. Where do we go from here?’
‘You and I,’ said Renata, ‘leave here tomorrow. We go to the Continent. You may have read, or know, that there’s a Musical Festival taking place in Bavaria. It is something quite new which has only come into being in the last two years. It has a rather formidable German name meaning “The Company of