Дик Фрэнсис - Bolt

I looked along the shadowy mews and thought of danger and fear, those old tamed friends. One couldn’t teach anyone how to live with them: it had to come from inside. It got easier with practice, like everything else, but also it could vanish overnight. Nerve came and nerve went: there could be an overload of the capacity for endurance.

‘Come on,’ I said, ‘it’s getting cold.’ I paused. ‘Thank you for telling me.’

‘What... are you going to do?’

‘Go indoors and sleep till morning.’

‘No...’ she sobbed on a laugh. ‘About what I said.’

‘I’m going to wait,’ I said, ‘like Princess Casilia told me to.’

‘Told you!’ Danielle exclaimed. ‘Did you tell her?’

‘No, I didn’t. She said it out of the blue in the parade ring at Ascot.’

‘Oh,’ Danielle said in a small voice. ‘It was on Tuesday, while you were in Devon, that I asked her.’

We got out of the car and I locked the doors. What Danielle had said had been bad enough, but not as bad as an irrevocable declaration for Litsi. Until she took off the engagement ring she still wore, I would cling to some sort of hope.

We walked back side by side to the square, and said goodnight again briefly on the landing. I went on upstairs and lay on the bed and suffered a good deal, for which there was no aspirin.

When I went in to breakfast, both Litsi and Danielle were already in the morning room, he sitting at the table reading the Sporting Life, she leaning over his shoulder to do the same.

‘Is it in?’ I said.

‘Is what in?’ Litsi asked, intently reading.

‘The advertisement,’ I said, ‘for the message-passer.’

‘Yes, it’s in,’ Litsi said. There’s a picture of you in the paper.’

I fetched some grapefruit juice, unexcited. There were photographs of me in newspapers quite often: result of the job.

‘It says here,’ Litsi said, ‘that Champion jockey Kit Fielding saved the life of a man at Bradbury by persuading the crowd to take off their coats...’ He lowered the paper and stared at me. ‘You didn’t say a word about it being your idea.’

Danielle too was staring. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

‘An uprush of modesty,’ I said, drinking the juice.

Litsi laughed. ‘I won’t thank you, then.’

‘No, don’t.’

Danielle said to me, ‘Do you want some toast?’

‘Yes... please,’ I said.

She walked over to the sideboard, cut a slice of wholemeal bread and put it in the toaster. I watched her do it, and Litsi, I found, watched me. I met his eyes and couldn’t tell what he was thinking, and wondered how much had been visible in my own face.

‘How are the muscles?’ I asked.

‘Stiff.’

I nodded. The toast popped up in the toaster and Danielle put the slice on a plate, brought it over and put it down in front of me.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

‘You’re welcome.’ It was lightly said, but not a return to November. I ate the toast while it was still hot, and was grateful for small mercies.

‘Are you busy again this afternoon?’ Litsi asked.

‘Five rides,’ I said. ‘Are you coming?’

‘Aunt Casilia said we’re all going.’

‘So she did.’ I reflected a little, remembering the morning conversation in the hall. ‘It might be a good idea,’ I said to Danielle, ‘if you could casually mention in front of Beatrice, but so as to make sure she hears, that you’ll only be working on Monday next week.’

She looked astonished. ‘But I’m not. I’m working a normal schedule.’

‘I want Beatrice to think Monday’s your last night for coming home so late.’

‘Why?’ Danielle asked. ‘I don’t mean I won’t do it, but why?’

Litsi was watching me steadily. ‘What else?’ he said.

I said conversationally, ‘There’s no harm in laying out a line with a few baited hooks. If the fish doesn’t take the opportunity, nothing will have been lost.’

‘And if he does?’

‘Net him.’

‘What sort of line and hooks?’ Danielle asked.

‘A time and place,’ I said, ‘for removing an immovable object.’

She said to Litsi, ‘Do you know what he means?’

‘I’m afraid I do,’ he said. ‘He told Beatrice last night that while he was here to prevent it, Roland would never sign a contract for arms. Kit is also the only one of us that Nanterre hasn’t directly attacked in any way, although he has twice promised to do it. Kit’s directing him to a time and place which we may be able to turn to our advantage. The time, I gather, is early Tuesday morning, when he leaves this house to fetch you from work.’

‘And the place?’ Danielle said, her eyes wide.

Litsi glanced at me. ‘We all know the perfect place,’ he said.

After the briefest of pauses, she said flatly, The alley.’

I nodded. ‘When Thomas drives the princess and Beatrice to the races today, he’ll say he’s forgotten something essential which he has to fetch from the garage on the way. He’s going to drive the Rolls right down the mews to the turning circle, to give Beatrice a full view of it, and on the way back he’ll stop by the garage but behind my Mercedes. He’s going to say how deserted and dark the alley is at night... he’s going to point out that the Mercedes is my car, and he’s going to mention that I fetch you in it every night. If Beatrice does her stuff, there’s just a chance Nanterre will come. And if he doesn’t, as I said, nothing’s lost.’

‘Will you be there,’ Danielle said, ‘in the alley?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘Silly question,’ she said.

‘I’ll hire a chauffeur-driven car to go to Chiswick to bring you back,’ I said.

‘Couldn’t Thomas...?’

‘Thomas,’ I said, ‘says he wouldn’t miss the show for anything. He and Sammy will both be there. I’m not walking into that alley on my own.’

‘I won’t be able to work,’ Danielle said. ‘I don’t think I’ll go.’

‘Indeed you must,’ Litsi said. ‘Everything must look normal.’

‘But what if he comes?’ she said. ‘What if you catch him, what then?’

‘I’ll make him an offer he can’t resist,’ I said, and although they both wanted to know what it was, I thought I wouldn’t tell them just yet.

We all went to Sandown races, except of course for Roland, still in the care of Sammy.

The recording telephone was in Mrs Jenkins’ office, with instructions to everybody that if anyone telephoned about any messages for Danielle, every word was to be recorded, and the caller must be asked for a number or an address for us to get back to him.

‘He may ask about a reward,’ I said to the wispy-waif secretary, and also to Dawson and to Sammy. ‘If he does, assure him he’ll get one.’ And they all nodded and asked no questions.

Litsi, Danielle and I delayed leaving the house until after Thomas had driven away with the princess and Beatrice, who was complaining that she didn’t like going to the races twice in one week. Thomas, closing her into the back seat, gave me a large wink before settling himself behind the wheel, and I thought how trusting all the princess’s staff were, doing things whose purpose they didn’t wholly understand, content only to be told that it was ultimately for the princess’s sake.

There was no sign of the Rolls when we walked round to the mews, and I alarmed Litsi and Danielle greatly by checking my car again for traps. I borrowed the sliding mirror-on-wheels which the mechanics used for quick inspections of cars’ undersides, but found no explosive sticky strangers, yet all the same I wouldn’t let the other two get into the car before I’d started it, driven it a few yards, and braked fiercely to a halt.