Traitors Gate - Anne Perry [145]
Why had Kreisler warned him? Their beliefs were not the same. Or was it not deliberate? Had Kreisler asked his questions and Thorne understood the meaning behind them?
It was all academic now. It explained why none of Hathaway’s figures had reached the German Embassy. Thorne had altered them all anyway.
He looked around him at the gracious, comfortable room: the ormolu clock ticking on the mantelshelf from which he had taken the letter, the pictures on the walls, mostly dark Dutch scenes of landscapes with animals and water. He had never before appreciated how beautiful cows were, how a body with so many protruding bones could still have about it such an air of peace.
On the chair beside his elbow, Archie, the orange kitten, uncurled himself, stretched out a silken paw with claws spread, gave a little squeak of satisfaction and began to purr.
“What on earth am I going to do with you?” Pitt asked, unconsciously admiring the perfection of the creature. It had a star-shaped face with bright, sea-blue-green eyes and enormous ears. It was watching him with curiosity, and no fear whatever.
He put out his hand and rang the bell. The footman appeared immediately. He had obviously been waiting in the hall.
“Mr. Thorne has requested that I take these two cats,” Pitt said with a frown.
“Oh, I am glad,” the footman responded with relief. “I was afraid we were going to have them disposed of. That would be a terrible shame. Nice little things, they are. I’ll get a basket for you, sir. I’m sure there’ll be one suitable.”
“Thank you.”
“Not at all, sir. I’ll do it right away.”
Pitt took them home because he had very little alternative. Also he wanted to tell Charlotte about Soames, and knew it would devastate Matthew. Last night he had not told her of it, hoping in some way it would prove mistaken, although she knew there was something deeply wrong. Matthew had left without waiting to eat, or to speak with both of them, and she had watched him leave with anxious face and troubled eyes.
First he presented her with the cats. They were angry in the basket and in a considerable temper to be out, which took precedence over news of any other thought.
“They’re beautiful,” she exclaimed with delight, putting the basket on the kitchen floor. “Oh, Thomas, they’re exquisite! Where on earth did you get them? I wanted a cat as soon as we moved, but no one has had any.” She looked up at him with delight filling her face, then immediately turned back to the basket. Archie was playing with her finger, and Angus was staring at her with round, golden eyes. “I shall think of names for them.”
“They are already named,” he said quickly. “They belonged to Christabel Thorne.”
“Belonged?” She jerked her head up. “Why do you say that? What has happened to her? You said she is all right!”
“I expect she is. Jeremiah Thorne is the traitor at the Colonial Office, if traitor is the right word. I’m not sure that it is.”
“Jeremiah Thorne?” She looked crushed, her face filled with sudden sadness. The kittens were temporarily forgotten, in spite of the fact that Archie was quietly biting her finger, and then licking it, holding it between his paws. “I suppose you are sure? Have you arrested him?”
He sat down on one of the wooden chairs beside the kitchen table.
“No. They have both gone to Portugal. They left last night. I think Kreisler’s constant questions warned them.”
“They’ve got away?” Then her expression sobered. “Oh. I’m sorry. I …”
He smiled. “There’s no need to apologize for feeling relieved. I am myself, for a lot of reasons, not least because I liked them.”
Her face was filled with a mixture of curiosity, guilt and confusion. “What other news? Is it not bad for you, for England, that they escaped?”
“For me, possibly. Farnsworth may be angry, but he may also come to realize that if we had caught them there would have been a considerable conflict as to what to do with them.”
“Try them,” she said instantly. “For treason!