Jack Higgins - Exocet

Villiers said calmly, ‘No.’

‘Is she still at the flat in Kensington Palace Gardens?’

‘Some of the time. That one belongs to me. She uses it by arrangement. She has her place in Paris, of course.’

‘I was sorry to hear about the divorce.’

‘Don’t be,’ Villiers said flatly. ‘The best thing that ever happened to either of us.’

‘You really mean that?’

‘Oh, yes.’

Ferguson shivered and pulled the collar of his coat up around his neck, and yet he lowered the window even more so that the cold morning air rushed in.

‘Sometimes I wonder what life’s all about.’

‘Well, don’t ask me,’ Villiers told him. ‘I’m only passing through.’

He folded his arms, leaned back in the corner, closed his eyes and was instantly asleep.

Brigadier Charles Ferguson preferred to work when possible from his Cavendish Square flat. It was his especial joy. The Adam fireplace was real and so was the fire which burned there. The rest was Georgian also. Everything matched to perfection, including the curtains. He was sitting by the fire at ten o’clock in the morning after Villiers’ exploit at the Palace, reading the Financial Times , when the door opened and his manservant, Kim, an ex-Gurkha naik, appeared.

‘Mademoiselle Legrand, sir.’

Ferguson removed his half-moon reading glasses, put them down with the paper and stood up. ‘Show her in, Kim, and tea for three, please.’

Kim departed and a moment later, Gabrielle Legrand entered the room.

She was, as always, Ferguson told himself, the most strikingly beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. She was dressed for riding in boots, faded jodhpurs, white shirt and an old green jacket in Donegal tweed. The blonde hair was held back from the forehead by a scarlet band and rolled up into a bun at the nape of the neck. She regarded him gravely, the wide green eyes giving nothing away, the riding crop she carried in her left hand tapping her knee. She was not small, almost five foot eight in her boots. Ferguson went towards her with a smile of conscious pleasure, hands outstretched.

‘My lovely Gabrielle.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘No longer Mrs Villiers, I see?’

‘No,’ she said flatly. ‘I’m me again.’

Her voice was English upper class, but with its own timbre that gave it a unique quality. She dropped her crop on the table, went to the window and peered down into the square.

‘Have you seen Tony lately?’

‘I should have thought you would have,’ Ferguson said. ‘He’s in town. Spot of leave, as I understand it. Hasn’t he called at the flat?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘He wouldn’t do that, not while I’m there.’

She stayed at the window and Ferguson said gently, ‘What went wrong between you two, my love?’

‘Everything,’ she said, ‘and nothing. We thought we were in love one long hot summer five years ago. I was beautiful, he was the best-looking thing in a uniform I ever saw.’

‘And then?’

‘We didn’t gel – it never did. The chemistry was all wrong.’ The voice was flat calm and yet he sensed distress there. ‘I cared for Tony, still do, but I got angry with him too easily and I never knew why.’ She shrugged again. ‘Too many spaces we could never fill.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Ferguson said.

The door opened and Kim entered with a silver tray which he placed by the fire. ‘Ah, tea,’ Ferguson said. ‘Get Captain Fox from the office, Kim.’

The Gurkha went out and Gabrielle sat down by the fire. Ferguson sat opposite and poured tea into a china cup for her.

She drank a little and smiled. ‘Excellent. The English half of me approves.’

‘Filthy stuff, coffee,’ he told her.

He offered her a cigarette. She shook her head. ‘No thanks, I’d prefer to get down to business. I have a luncheon appointment. What do you want?’

At that moment the door opened and Harry Fox came in. He wore a Guards tie and light grey flannel suit, and carried a file which he placed on the desk.

‘Gabrielle, how nice.’ He was genuinely pleased and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

‘Harry.’ She patted his face affectionately. ‘What’s this boss of yours up to now?’

Fox took the cup of tea Ferguson offered and looked at him enquiringly. Ferguson nodded and the young Captain stood by the fire and carried on.

‘What do you know about the Falkland Islands, Gabrielle?’

‘In the South Atlantic,’ she said. ‘About four hundred miles off the Argentine coast. The Argentine government has been claiming them for years.’

‘That’s right. British Sovereign territory, of course, but a lousy place to defend eight thousand miles away.’

‘As a matter of interest,’ Ferguson said, ‘we have sixty-eight Royal Marines in the islands at the moment, backed up by the local defence force and one ship of the Royal Navy. HMS Endurance , an ice patrol vessel, armed with two 20 mm guns and a couple of Wasp helicopters. Our masters in Parliament have been making it clear in public debate that they intend to scrap her to save money.’

‘And just four hundred miles away is a superbly equipped airforce, a large army and navy,’ Fox said.

Gabrielle shrugged. ‘So what? You’re not seriously suggesting that the Argentine Government would invade?’

‘I’m afraid that’s exactly what we are suggesting,’ Ferguson said. ‘All the signs have pointed that way since January and the CIA certainly think it’s on the cards. It makes a lot of sense. The country is run by a three-man junta. The President, General Galtieri, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Army, has a commitment to economic recovery. Unfortunately, the country is almost bankrupt.’

Fox said, ‘An invasion of the Falklands would prove a very welcome diversion. Take the people’s minds off other things.’

‘Just like the Romans,’ Ferguson said. ‘Bread and circuses. Keep the mob happy. Another cup?’

He poured Gabrielle more tea. She said, ‘I still don’t see where I come into this.’

‘Very simple really.’

Ferguson nodded to Fox, who opened the file on the desk and took out an ornate invitation card which he passed to her. In English and Spanish, His Excellency Carlos Ortiz de Rozas, Argentine Ambassador to the Court of St James, invited Mademoiselle Gabrielle Simone Legrand to a cocktail party and buffet, seven-thirty for eight at the Argentine Embassy in Wilton Crescent.