was planning this very secret enterprise. For one thing, I had always been able to share the details of my jobs with him before. He had always had a willing ear and gave sound advice. I hadn’t told him about my work for the government, but a part of me would likely be tempted to the longer we spent together.
“How am I supposed to ignore him when he’s just returned home?”
“I suppose you’d better come up with something.”
No doubt in the army he was used to people saluting smartly and obeying without question when he told them to do something, but he’d do well to remember that we weren’t in the army now.
“He’s been injured,” I continued. “He needs friends who will support him.”
“I’m sure that’s so, but I need you more than he does at the moment.”
From any other man, this might have been a flattering declaration. As it was, I knew a command when I heard one.
“He won’t understand it.”
His cool eyes met mine. “He’s been to battle; I’m sure he’ll hold up without your company for a fortnight.”
I blinked. The words stung as they hit their mark. It was true enough, I supposed. I was overestimating my importance.
I thought of the way I had felt last night as we danced, of the way I had felt this morning. I didn’t want to risk losing whatever it was that was growing between us. But perhaps the major was right. This mission must come first. The untangling of my personal feelings for Felix—and the discovery of whatever information he might be able to help me learn about my mother—would have to wait.
I let out a sigh to be sure the major knew I didn’t like it.
“All right,” I said at last, sounding unapologetically like a rebellious adolescent. “I’ll do it. But under protest.”
“Of course,” Major Ramsey replied, with complete indifference. “Do you do things any other way?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The thought of the conversation I would have to have with Felix left me melancholy, and I couldn’t bring myself to ring him up before the major arrived that afternoon to escort me to the tearoom where the exchange of documents was supposed to take place.
He arrived a bit before I expected him, and I was still in my stocking feet, my hair flying free.
“Oh,” I said, opening the door after his brisk tap. “I … will you give me just a moment, major? I just have a few things I need to do.”
“Of course.”
“Would you … like to come in?” I wasn’t sure of the etiquette. Maybe he’d rather wait in the car.
But he seemed willing enough. “Thank you.”
I stepped back and pulled the door open, allowing him to enter.
He took off his service cap, his fair hair still neatly in place beneath, and followed me into the sitting room.
He’d picked me up for our date to the party, of course, but he’d stayed outside. It was strange having him inside the house. For one thing, the room seemed smaller since he was so large. It was as though he absorbed a great deal of space.
For another, though we’d always been a family who’d enjoyed entertaining, I’d never imagined a government man in my flat. A great many of Uncle Mick’s friends and associates had frequented the house over the years. I’d met thieves and swindlers, and even dangerous men. But Major Ramsey was a new breed altogether.
His eyes moved around my little room, taking the surroundings in with a practiced glance. He was an observant man, and I supposed he was making assumptions about me from this room. I tried to guess what he might infer from the tidy but brightly decorated living space.
Perhaps that I was a paradox of sorts. I had an orderly mind but was also capable of creativity.
I had never really thought how my private residence might reveal things about me to outsiders.
All of this passed through my mind in the space of a few seconds, and then his attention turned back to me. He must have noticed I was shorter than usual because his gaze dropped to my stockinged feet.
“If you’d like to have a seat, I’ll be just a moment,” I said.
I hurried back to my bedroom and slipped on a pair of shoes. Then, moving before the mirror, I ran my fingers through my curls, trying to intimidate them into behaving properly. They weren’t intimidated.
Sighing, I let them have their own way and went back out into the sitting room.
Instead of taking a