Page 4 of The Number of Love
“I left a meal on the table for you. Eat it before you go to bed,ma puce.”
Margot pressed her lips against another smile. Her mother still seemed to think that she’d let herself starve if she didn’t issue that command. As if Margot were not the one to prepare half the meals—sparse as they were. “I will.” She leaned over to kiss her mother’s satiny cheek. “Have a good day. I’ll see what’s to be found in the shops this afternoon.”
Maman gave her a pointed look. “We both know you will be right back here by two o’clock. But we are dining at your brother’s tonight, do not forget. We must leave at a decent hour.”
“Oui, Maman.” Her bed calling all the louder from down here, she stepped away. “I’ll see you later.”
“Rest well.”
Margot slid her hand into her pocket to reassure herself that her key was still there and set off for their flat. A meal, some sleep, a chilly bath. Then she’d be back here, where she belonged.
2
Drake Elton stared down the hallway, half a grin on his face, long after he’d been left alone by the nameless girl with the impossibly dark eyes. It was the eyes that had done it—that had made the questions surge to life in his mind.
Who was she? What was her name? And the more important one—what thoughts raced through her mind to make those dark eyes so deep?
Questions were old friends. Questions kept him alive. And in this particular case, it shouldn’t betoodifficult to find the answers.
Of course, even if he didn’t manage it on this visit, it wouldn’t mean bullets whizzing at his head or cuffs threatening to encircle his wrists. But the questions were no less interesting for being a bit less urgent. He leaned a shoulder into the doorjamb and called those dark eyes to mind again.
She had a wit to match the eyes, the type he most preferred. Antarctican, indeed. His lips refused to lose their grin. Though her accent was so faint it was scarcely there, discernible only in a few vowels, he’d recognized the French Belgian in her. She’d probably been young when she came to England. Maybe at the start of the war, when the rest of the refugees flooded the country? Probably, given that she was from Louvain. If so, then she must be aroundDot’s age, or a little younger even. To look at her, he hadn’t been able to peg that. Her skin was smooth, but those eyes...
She must be trusted implicitly to work here, that much he knew. And Hall had called hermy dear—an endearment that some men might apply willy-nilly to any female they knew, but not DID. DID never did anything willy-nilly.
At the same moment, he heard the liftdingand Hall’s door open and shut quietly. Drake pushed off from the wall and turned toward his superior. If the interview was over already ... But when he turned to look, Hall’s expression seemed pleasant enough. No scowl, no exasperation.
Please, Father in heaven, let Dot find favor here.Drake’s fingers tightened around the hat he held.
Admiral Hall inclined his head, indicating something beyond Drake. He half turned even as female voices flooded the hall. Two women, both in their late forties or early fifties, were exiting the lift, laughing. The one on the left had dark hair, dark eyes—though notsodark—and a face of utter elegance.
The other he recognized as Lady Ebba Hambro. The woman who, if all went well, would soon be the one to demand his sister get up every day and get out of the house. Come here.Dosomething.
Not that Dot didn’tdoplenty—but nothing that would put food on her table while Drake was gone.
If Father were still alive, he would hate that it had come to this. That the shipping business once so prosperous now rested at the bottom of the Atlantic, victim to U-boats. That his daughter had to work to survive.
But it could be good for her.Wouldbe. He’d have to cling to that.
The women paid him no particular mind. The pretty one just slid through the same doorway You Girl had first emerged from, and Lady Hambro charged right past him, her sights set on Hall. “Is Miss Elton here already?”
Hall nodded and indicated his office. He said something to the lady—too quiet for Drake’s ears to pick up—and motioned her in.
Then he met Drake’s gaze and jerked his head to the side.
Yes, sir. He followed the admiral into another room, still night-dim but for the light coming through the windows. Once Drake had shut the door behind him, his shoulders relaxed a degree. “I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you on the promotion, sir.”
Hall waved that off. “You leave again for Spain tomorrow?”
He had to force his fingers to remain loose and easy around the brim of his hat. He nodded. Heoughtto have left a week ago, but their aunt had been all aflutter about evacuating London, and he’d had to see to Dot. She’d refused to go with Aunt Millie. The war had already forced her from her haven once, she’d said. She’d not leave a second home for it. Which meant she had to find a way to support herself if she stayed. “Thank you for the extra time, sir.”
“You earned it. Besides, you would be distracted in the field if you were worrying after your sister.”
“I won’t be now, I assure you.” Assuming Dot got the position here.Please, God. Please. Everything else they’d tried had been a bust. “She’s a good worker. Trustworthy. I know she comes off as awkward, but with Lady Hambro’s discipline giving her incentive—”
“Easy, Elton.” Hall’s lips settled into a smile that matched his instruction. “Your sister will be given a chance. What she does with it, of course, is up to her.”
Thank you, Lord!Drake’s shoulders sagged. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”
