away, but three of them received hefty prison sentences, and my—the man I’d entrapped hanged himself before trial.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Quite.”
Will wondered if he had the right to ask, and did it anyway. “How did you feel about that?”
“Not much worse than I did every other day. That was the great advantage of my situation for DS, you see: it hardly mattered what sort of job he gave me.”
“I’d like a word with this fellow.”
“Don’t blame him,” Kim said. “The group in question was planning a large-scale bombing campaign, my dear friend included, so finer feelings be damned. If I had to do it again, I would. Some things need doing.”
“You still have to live with yourself afterwards.”
“How many men did you stab in the dark?” Kim flashed. “Is the dark so much better than the back?”
“I’ve got to live with myself too. I’ll take your word you did the right things, or at least did things for the right reasons.”
Kim’s shoulders dropped. “I wish you would, then perhaps you could persuade me of it. I’m truly sorry about Beaumont. He’ll loathe you now, and I dare say you’ll feel responsible if his girl friend pays the price. I should have found a way to get at him that didn’t involve you.”
“You should, yes. Though you didn’t know what would come up.”
“I knew it would be bad.” He sighed. “I have a lowering feeling I was giving myself an excuse to see you again.”
Will had to take that in for a second. “Were you?”
“Probably. Yes. Of course I was.”
“That’s...” Will didn’t know what to say. “You couldn’t have just answered the ’phone? Oh, hell, Kim. Sometimes you have to get the job done. I understand that. Some things don’t happen in a gentlemanly way. You can’t stay clean if you’re knee deep in mud, and that’s all there is to it.”
“Some people would call that an argument not to get in the mud in the first place.”
“Except the mud is where the work is,” Will said. “Or the war. Clean hands were for people who didn’t go.”
“I didn’t go, and look at my hands now.”
Will took Kim’s manicured fingers in his own toughened ones. “Yes, I know. Put a lot more work in and they might end up like mine. Do you know the thing about stabbing people in the back?”
“What?”
“They don’t scream.”
Kim twisted round to give him a look. Will said, “They just groan, can’t help it. It’s like the blow takes the breath out of them. So if you need someone to die quietly, that’s what you do, and never mind being honourable about it.”
“I’ll...bear that in mind,” Kim said, and they sat together in silence.
Chapter Ten
Mrs. Appleby didn’t arrive in the country until Sunday and Kim had preparatory work to do. That left Will at a loose end for a bit, until he learned that he was non-negotiably invited to the couturiers’ dinner at the Criterion on Saturday evening.
“But why on earth do you want me there?” he asked Maisie. “I’m no use to you. I don’t know anything about fashion.”
“I know, but...” Maisie gave him a frantic look. “Edward Molyneux and a lady who works directly for Jeanne Lanvin are coming, Will! And Adela Moran, who Coco Chanel sometimes uses, and Gloria Glade the film star, and Kim and Phoebe will be there being Lord Arthur Secretan and the Honourable Miss Stephens-Prince—all in the Criterion, for me, and I’m terrified. You won’t be terrified. I need you there not being terrified, or I might be sick.”
“You do want to do this fashion thing, right?”
She gave him a look. “Yes. It’s what I’ve dreamed of for years, and now it’s not just a dream but a thing that might happen. A real hope. Is there anything more terrifying than getting what you hope for?”
What Will might hope for wasn’t even something he could think about properly. “Fair point.”
“It will be all right once I’ve started. Phoebe’s doing it for me, she’ll make it work. But I desperately don’t want to let her down, and it’s the first time, and everyone else will be posh, and—I need someone like me there, on my side. Please?”
Oh God. But this was Maisie, so Will set his shoulders. “Any idea where I can get evening dress before Saturday?”
“Phoebe said she’ll arrange it. Oh, thank you, Will, thank you. I know you won’t enjoy it.”
“I just hope you do.”
“If it kills me.” Maisie grinned wryly. “I have to get used to mixing with these