The Restoration Garden: A Novel - 27

Irene

Despite what I’d told Roger, I was terrified to return to James’s flat. Crime had been on the rise in London ever since rationing rules tightened, but I didn’t believe for one second that my attacker had been just a common thief. The real question was whether James had sent him after me—or if it was someone James worked for.

Still, I had to trust James wouldn’t harm me in his own home. He’d been too careful to distance himself from any suspicion.

Before heading back, I detoured to Harrods, where I purchased a new scarf to conceal the bruises that had formed around my neck, and to give myself time to think. I’d known since the day I left Havenworth that Father was scheduled to travel to Liverpool this week, where he would board a steamer for America. He was planning to deliver Britain’s most important technological development to the Americans. If James knew that, it would be all too easy to arrange an ambush, intercept Father, and hand the technology over to the Germans instead. I had to find out what James was planning. I had to stop him.

My husband was home when I finally returned. He sat at the kitchen table with a bottle of wine and two glasses. He was waiting for me.

“What’s all this?” I asked, hiding my fear.

“An apology. I felt terrible about how I treated you last night. You were afraid and I was selfish.”

His answer startled me. “There’s no need to apologize. You were right. The bombs weren’t anywhere near Mayfair. I was just being silly.”

“I’m your husband. I will always protect you,” he said. “Even if that means sleeping in a ridiculous shelter. Now come share a drink with me so we can put that ridiculous fight behind us.”

My heart pounded as I sat down.

He won’t hurt you. Not here, I reminded myself. And yet, I didn’t trust the bottle of wine before us. James poured us each a glass. The deep-red liquid clung like blood to the edges of the crystal. I waited for him to take the first sip before appeasing him with one of my own.

“Did you get the package Catherine delivered for you? The blue tin? She said it had been delivered to her flat by mistake.” I had left it in the living room with a note after carefully rearranging the dolls so that it would not appear anything was missing.

He nodded, swirling the wineglass along the table. “It wasn’t mine. Catherine was confused when she brought it here, but we’ve sorted it out.”

“She can be a bit absent-minded. I’m glad it got to the right place in the end.”

He smiled, but there was something off about it. “Is that a new scarf?”

My fingers instinctively flitted to the silk around my neck. “I hope you don’t mind. I saw it in Harrods and had to have it.”

“It’s beautiful. You should wear it tomorrow. My uncle’s given me the day off. There’s someplace special I’d like to take you.”

My breath hitched. “Where is that?”

He grinned like a cat circling an injured bird. “A surprise.”

He knew.

“That would be wonderful. It’s been too long since we’ve spent a day together.” My smile was tight, fighting to mask the fear in my eyes.

That night, I lay awake in bed, too afraid to sleep. If James weren’t a light sleeper, I would have tried to sneak out. But where would I go?

I was on my own.

The telephone rang in the early hours of the morning, when it was still pitch-black outside. I kept my body as still as stone, even as James shifted on the mattress.

A moment later I listened to him pad toward the front hallway to answer the phone.

“I told you never to call me here.” James’s low whisper echoed through the flat.

In all our time together, I had never actually seen James angry, but there was a fury in his voice that resonated throughout the flat.

“I don’t care what excuses you have. I told you it was going to cost more. If you can’t pay it, there are plenty of people who will.” After a long pause, he added, “Today. Or else.”

The sound of the telephone’s handset slamming against the base rang out. I kept my body utterly still as he walked back into the bedroom. The mattress dipped from his weight. Even with my eyes clenched shut, I felt his gaze on me, inspecting me for any sign of alertness. I kept my lips parted and my breath light and steady, just as if I were asleep.

His fingers brushed my shoulders, so soft and delicate, it took everything in me not to shudder. I felt him watching me. Studying me. But I refused to give him any sign of deceit. Finally, he lay back down and went to sleep.

James woke in a foul mood the next morning. He dressed quickly without much care for the fact I was still in bed, banging the cabinet drawers and stomping heavily. I rose up on my elbow and rubbed my eyes. The subtle movement was enough to draw his attention.

He set his hands on his hips, regarding me like a problem he’d have rather forgotten. “I have to run some errands today. I’ll be back later. We’ll have our date then.”

“I’ll be waiting,” I said.

He hurried out the door without another word. I allowed myself only the briefest exhalation of relief before throwing on some clothes and chasing after him. Whoever had placed that phone call last night had given me a reprieve, even if they hadn’t realized it, and I was determined not to let it go to waste.

I’d gotten so used to following James these last few weeks that it had become second nature to slip unnoticed down alleyways and blend into the flow of pedestrians as I walked half a block behind him. I knew to keep my head down, my clothes simple and unremarkable.

By now, I wasn’t surprised to see him spending his days trading illicit and rationed goods for secrets among the London elite—people with no allegiance to their country. But the sight of it still sickened me. It weighed on my conscience, knowing I played a part in his grift and treachery. That I had once been so easily swayed by his charm and empty promises. I’d been so naive then, but the people James met in exclusive restaurants and gentlemen’s clubs couldn’t say the same. They knew what was at stake for this nation. Even as London burned from the incessant bombs every night, they traded with James not in spite of the damage it might do to the war effort but rather because of it.

I would never absolve myself of the shame of having once believed the war was some distant, phony thing. The scale of tragedy over the last month had been unimaginable. Thousands of people were dead—many of them women and children. Homes and churches and businesses destroyed. I couldn’t change my past, but I had no excuses anymore. My determination to uncover James’s every secret burned hotter as I followed him to Regent’s Park. My pulse quickened each time he glanced over his shoulder. The park teemed with walkers, making it easy to stay hidden. I stayed off the main paths, darting behind the trees and shrubs to keep out of view.

He eventually made his way to Winter Garden in the northwest corner of the park. He didn’t spot me hidden several yards away behind a large horse-chestnut tree with low-hanging branches covered in yellowed leaves. For the first time since I’d known him, James seemed truly nervous.

He stiffened as someone stepped in front of him, blocked from my view. “Do you have the money?”

“Yes, yes. Of course I have it.”

That voice. There was something so familiar about it. I inched forward for a better view, but I still couldn’t see past James’s broad frame.

“Then hand it over.”

“How do I know you aren’t going to go back on our deal again?”

“You’ve asked me to blow up a bloody train. It’s going to cost what it will cost.”

I gasped, disbelieving my own ears. James was a criminal and a traitor, but surely not capable of that kind of violence.

“I don’t want innocent people hurt.”

“Just your friend,” James added with a brutal taunt.

“A necessary sacrifice for the good of our country,” he said, almost pleadingly. “Have you gotten rid of the girl yet?”

“Soon.”

“I told you she would be nothing but a liability. Her father isn’t stupid enough to share anything important with her. If I hadn’t uncovered Clarke’s itinerary, you wouldn’t have a target for your friends in the Luftwaffe.”

That voice. I knew it from somewhere.

“She’s proven useful enough,” James said. “You wouldn’t even know what precious technologies you’re so desperate to steal if I hadn’t seduced the information out of her.”

“After it’s done, I never want to hear from you again.” The man handed James a thickly stuffed envelope. As he did, I caught sight of the familiar gray beard and ruddy cheeks.

The air heaved from my lungs.

Edward Howell, Lady Montgomery’s cousin-in-law, was plotting to kill my father.