Patriot games - Tom Clancy [50]
"Used to. Jesuit education, remember? They don't let you avoid the old stuff." Is Moll Flanders a classic? Jack wondered. It's not in Latin or Greek, and it's not Shakespeare
" 'Old stuff.' What a terrible attitude!" Watkins laughed.
"Did you ever try to read Virgil in the original?" Ryan asked.
"Arma virumque cano, trojae qui primus ab oris ?"
"Geoff and I attended Winchester together," Holmes explained. "Contiquere omnes, intenteque ora tenebant " Both public school graduates had a good chuckle.
"Hey, I got good marks in Latin, I just don't remember any of it," Ryan said defensively.
"Another colonial philistine," Watkins observed.
Ryan decided that he didn't like Mr. Watkins. The foreign-service officer was deliberately hitting him to get reactions, and Ryan had long since tired of this game. Ryan was happy with what he was, and didn't need a bunch of amateur pshrinks, as he called them, to define his personality for him.
"Sorry. Where I live we have slightly different priorities."
"Of course," Watkins replied. The smile hadn't changed a whit. This surprised Jack, though he wasn't sure why.
"You live not far from the Naval Academy, don't you? Wasn't there some sort of incident there recently?" Sir Basil asked. "I read about it in some report somewhere. I never did get straight on the details."
"It wasn't really terrorism-just your basic crime, A couple of midshipmen saw what looked like a drug deal being made in Annapolis, and called the police. The people who got arrested were members of a local motorcycle gang. A week later, some of the gang members decided to take the mids out. They got past the Jimmy Legs-the civilian security guards-about three in the morning and sneaked into Bancroft Hall. They must have assumed that it was just another college dorm-not hardly. The kids standing midwatch spotted them, got the alarm out, and then everything came apart. The intruders got themselves lost-Bancroft has a couple of miles of corridors-and cornered. It's a federal case since it happened on government property, and the FBI takes a very dim view of people who try to tamper with witnesses. They'll be gone for a while. The good news is that the Marine guard force at the Academy has been beefed up, and it's a lot easier to get in and out now."
"Easier?" Watkins asked. "But-"
Jack smiled. "With Marines on the perimeter, they leave a lot more gates open-a Marine guard beats a locked gate any day."
"Indeed. I-" Something caught Charleston 's eye. Ryan was facing the wrong way to see what it was, but the reactions were plain enough. Charleston and Holmes began to disengage, with Watkins making his way off first. Jack turned in time to see the Queen appear at the door, coming past a servant.
The Duke was at her side, with Cathy trailing a diplomatically defined distance behind and to the side. The Queen came first to him.
"You are looking much better."
Jack tried to bow-he thought he was supposed to-without endangering the Queen's life with his cast. The main trick was standing still, he'd learned. The weight of the thing tended to induce a progressive lean to the left. Moving around helped him stay upright.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I feel much better. Good evening, sir."
One thing about shaking hands with the Duke, you knew there was a man at the other end. "Hello again, Jack. Do try to be at ease. This is completely informal. No receiving line, no protocol. Relax."
"Well, the champagne helps."
"Excellent," the Queen observed. "I think we'll let you and Caroline get reacquainted for the moment." She and the Duke moved off.
"Easy on the booze. Jack." Cathy positively glowed in a white cocktail dress so lovely that Ryan forgot to wonder what it had cost. Her hair was nicely arranged and she had makeup on, two things that her profession regularly denied her. Most of all, she was Cathy Ryan. He gave his wife a quick kiss, audience and all.
"All these people-"
"Screw 'em," Jack said quietly. "How's my favorite girl?"
Her eyes sparkled with the news, but her voice was deadpan professional:
"Pregnant."