Arthur retrieved his clothes from where Streater had abandoned them on the floor and began to dress himself. As he struggled on with his shirt, he noticed the neat, professional puncture mark on his left arm — the first, we are grieved to have to tell you, of the many which were to come — and felt a spasm of disgrace and self-pity. More than once his eyes drifted across the room and alighted upon Mr. Streater’s bottom, the smoothly pert contours of which he compared to his own sagging, hemorrhoid-ridden posterior and felt a swell of sadness.
Taking care to close the door as softly as possible, the prince tiptoed from the room and headed back toward his own. Aware of his wretchedly disheveled appearance, he moved as fast as he could, keeping his head down low, praying he would attract no attention. Relieved to find that there was no one on guard outside his quarters, the prince locked himself inside, took a shower and tried to make himself presentable, whilst all the while a hideous lust was dragging at his soul, hectoring, pleading, begging to get it what it needed.
The prince felt a flare of concern. Where was Silverman? Why had he not come to find him last night? And, worst of all, why was he not here now, to dress him? Arthur Windsor could count the number of times in his adult life when he had been forced to clothe himself on the fingers of a single hand.
He sat on the bed, reached for the telephone and dialed Silverman’s private number. It rang incessantly without reply. Confused, the prince rang through to the Clarence House switchboard.
“Hello?” The voice was young, female and, like the majority of her generation, tinged with the taint of estuary.
“This is the Prince of Wales.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“To whom am I speaking?”
“This is Beth, sir.”
“Ah yes.” The prince had a vague memory of false nails and hoop earrings. “Good morning to you, Beth. I’m trying to get through to Mr. Silverman. But he doesn’t seem to be picking up his telephone.”
One moment, sir.”
There was a click and a pause before Beth spoke again. “His private line’s working fine, sir. I’ll look into it and get back to you.”
“Many thanks to you, Beth. I’m most grateful.”
“Thank you, sir.”
The prince set down the receiver, paced, vacillated, chewed his fingernails, watched the little hand on his watch go 360 degrees, then picked up the telephone again. He tapped in a number which rang interminably before it was answered.
His wife sounded out of breath. “Who is this?”
“Laetitia?”
“Arthur? Is that you? Where have you been?”
Strangely, Arthur thought he heard a male voice on the other end of the line. His wife’s breathing seemed to grow heavier. “Darling? What are you doing?”
“Nothing. I’ve just woken up.”
“Nothing? Is that the truth? Is there something going on I don’t know about?”
“Of course not. I told you. Anyway, shouldn’t I be the one asking you that question?”
Arthur heard what sounded like a grunting sound on the other end of the line. “I rang to ask for your help,” he said, disgust pushing its way into his voice.
“I’m so sorry, Arthur. This isn’t really a good time. I don’t feel at all well. I’ve got to go.”
Without warning, the line went dead.
Forced, without Silverman, to make his own decisions, the prince had picked out a charcoal-colored suit and was dallying by the mirror, trying everything he could to make himself appear less pop-eyed and exhausted, when the telephone rang again.
“Laetitia?”
“It’s Beth here actually, sir.”
“Beth?”
“We spoke a moment ago, sir. I’m calling from the switchboard.”
“Beth! Of course.”
“I’ve located the whereabouts of Mr. Silverman, sir.”
The prince brightened. “Splendid. Where is he?”
There was a moment’s hesitation. “He’s in the Princess of Wales’s quarters, sir. He’s with your wife.”
Arthur crept along the corridor which led to the large suite of rooms occupied by his wife, unsure of what he would say to her, struggling, like some Canute of infidelity, to hold back the tides of suspicion. The prince was not a man who sought or thrived on confrontation. If things had turned out differently, we suspect that he would have said nothing at all and done his best to ignore the telltale signs, perhaps returning to his apartment to wallow in melancholia. But, as you shall see, that is not how events unfurled.
When the door to his wife’s suite was unlocked from the inside, Arthur scurried back along the corridor, pressed himself flat against the wall and peered around the corner.
The door opened and Silverman strolled out, chased by the laughter of the prince’s wife. He tried to remember the last time he had made Laetitia laugh like that and came to the knife-twist conclusion that he never had. Not once.
Silverman was saying something impossible. It was hard to tell at such a distance and the prince was no lip-reader, but it looked like an invitation. An invitation and a promise. The equerry winked in a manner which we can only think of as salacious.
“It’s got to be our secret.” This was Laetitia, calling from inside.
The equerry snorted, winked again, closed the door and swaggered away down the corridor, upon which the prince had no choice but to emerge from his hiding place.
The man did not even have the decency to seem embarrassed. “Good morning, sir.”
“What were you doing in my wife’s quarters, Silverman?”
“She required my advice, sir.”
“Your advice?”
“That’s correct, sir.”
The prince looked at his old friend and now saw no treachery in his face, no skullduggery or lecherous deceit. “I needed someone to dress me and you weren’t there.”
“I’m so sorry, sir. I was on my way. You are not usually awake so early.”
“What time is it, Silverman?”
“Barely seven, sir.”
“Barely seven? Good God.”
“Is everything all right, sir? Is there anything I can attend to?”
“Of course not,” Arthur snapped. “How can everything be all right? I needed you to dress me and, as you can see, I’ve had to do that myself.” Without giving the equerry a chance to reply, the prince turned on his heel and stalked back to his rooms.
Inside, for a heartbeat, the mask slipped. He collapsed on his bed and let out a moan, the doomed cry of an animal dying in a trap. Then he collected himself, took a deep breath, reached for the phone and waited for his last true friend to speak.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Streater. So glad you’re awake.”
“Just got up. What can I do you for?”
“Please. Come to my rooms. I need you.”
“Sure. I’ll get dressed. Be right over.”
“And Mr. Streater?”
“Yep?”
“Bring me some ampersand.”
Down the telephone line, the prince could almost hear Mr. Streater’s smile.
Chapter 19
At nine A.M., the last of the Directorate gathered in the Eye for a council of war.
When the pod doors opened and Miss Morning and I walked inside, Jasper was already waiting. He was wearing the smug, self-satisfied expression of a man who’s just had a long-cherished dream rubber-stamped by someone who can actually make it happen. I didn’t like that look, as you can imagine. I didn’t like it at all.
Dedlock swiveled in his tank and splashed noisily through the fluid. “Henry Lamb! Miss Morning!”
“You seem cheerful,” the old lady said, understandably suspicious.
“Mr. Jasper has good news.”
“You’ve found the Prefects?” I asked.
“My jackboots have yet to track them down. But Jasper… Jasper may have given us the means.”
Miss Morning stepped up to Mr. Jasper, a wrinkled Holliday at t
he OK Corral. “What exactly,” she said, “are you proposing?”
“The Blueprint Programme,” said the smooth-skinned man, a gleam of triumph in his voice.
As usual, it was left to me to ask the necessary questions. “And what’s the Blueprint Programme exactly?”
“To track the Prefects,” Jasper explained, “we need a hunter. Someone ruthless. Someone tenacious. Someone with a talent for getting their hands dirty.”
Dedlock chipped in. “The Directorate may have lost Estella in 1967. But we did not let her make her sacrifice without persuading her to leave us with a memento.”
“A memento?” Miss Morning’s wizened frame seemed suddenly animated by rage. “What did you do?”
Dedlock spoke lightly, conversationally, like he was discussing the weather or the football or giving directions to tourists. “We made a copy of her etheric signature.”
“Her what?” I asked.
“Her essence, Mr. Lamb. Her animus.”
Miss Morning was furious. “Why?”
“So we could copy her abilities. So we could replicate the highlights of her mind in someone new. And we’ve finally found a way to do it.”
“But we’re looking for Estella,” I said. “Aren’t we? I mean, isn’t that what all this has been about?”
“We need her in physical form, yes,” said Dedlock. “We need the real Estella. But this is something quite different. I take it you’ve heard the phrase, ‘set a thief to catch a thief’?”
Jasper delved into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a silver pill and, like a soothsayer picking through the skeleton of some sacred animal, held it aloft for our scrutiny. “In this pill,” he said, “is the essence of the best field agent in the history of the Directorate. It only needs to be ingested for the subject to begin the transmogrification into a second Estella.”
“How remarkable,” Dedlock murmured.
“How wicked,” Miss Morning snapped.
“What exactly are your objections?” Dedlock asked Miss Morning.
“That boy’s grandfather would be appalled by this blasphemy,” she said. “It’s illegal and immoral. It disgraces the memory of a woman who gave up everything she had in the hope of keeping this city safe.”
I noticed that the old man couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye. “The Blueprint Programme is already sanctioned. But I’ve made it very clear that our subject must be a volunteer.” He splashed toward Mr. Jasper. “You understand that? A volunteer. We’re not barbarians.”
Jasper rolled out his answer, smoothly prepared. “Naturally, sir. But bear in mind that we’ll need a woman in excellent physical condition, someone with a lively, eager mind, someone… clean.”
“Clean? What are you talking about — clean?”
“Trust me, sir. Estella was a formidable woman. Anyone we choose will be grateful for the improvement.”
Miss Morning was practically spinning in fury. “Disgusting. These methods are beneath you.”
Dedlock sighed. “We do whatever it takes. You understand me? Things have changed since you were last in the game. The world is much less genteel now.” He swiveled in my direction. “Mr. Lamb?”
I was starting to hope he had forgotten me.
“I want you to go to the hospital. Hawker and Boon have unfinished business with your grandfather and it’s just possible they might try to see him. Don’t look so worried. I’ll put a security detail on you. Morning? Have you anything useful to contribute?”
The old lady looked defiant. “I’ve a lead of my own I’d like to follow.”
Dedlock stared suspiciously at her. “Very well. I’ll see you all back here at six o’clock. Jasper, I expect to see your hunter. Now — get to work!”
There then followed an embarrassing ten minutes of small talk and chit-chat as the pod took a little age to complete its revolution and reach the ground again.
When we stepped out of the Eye, Jasper was still wearing that same look of smug vindication. I think I knew even then, although I lacked the slightest sliver of evidence to prove it, that he had been waiting a long time for the programme to go ahead and that all this suffering and death had ever meant to him was a chance to test his wretched theories. For this, I never forgave him. The rest of his betrayals I can live with, but for that, for his part in the inception of Blueprint, I can’t imagine I’ll ever find a shred of clemency.
Miss Morning, still denouncing the rank immorality of the man in the tank, walked away down the South Bank, off to pursue her nebulous lead. I can’t say I was unhappy to see her go. She was starting to unravel, sinking into confused, directionless rage, and I found the spectacle of it upsetting. It would have been better for her if she’d never got involved with the Directorate again. Better, perhaps, for us all.
“Jasper?” I said.
The baby-faced man, urgently tapping into his mobile phone, didn’t look up. “Shouldn’t you be with your grandfather?”
“I wanted to ask…”
“Yes?”
“This Blueprint Programme. This pill of yours. Who are you going to feed it to?”
“Don’t get yourself all tied up, Henry.”
A horrible suspicion had begun to claw toward the forefront of my brain. “You are going to find a volunteer, aren’t you? Dedlock — he said it’s got to be a volunteer.”
“Leave it to me, Henry. I’ve given Blueprint a lot of thought.”
“I’ll just bet you have,” I said. “Christ, you’ve been grooming someone, haven’t you?”
“Look.” Mr. Jasper was gazing over my shoulder. “Isn't that your landlady?”
He was right. Abbey was strolling over the grass toward the Eye. She smiled, waved, and I waved back, but when I turned around to confront Mr. Jasper he had already disappeared.
Abbey drew close enough to kiss me — a brief meeting of the lips and, to my surprise, a swift intrusion of tongue.
“Hello,” I said, once she had stepped away.
“What’s that?” she asked, staring suspiciously at my earpiece.
I shrugged, sidestepped the question. “It’s for work. But what are you doing here?”
“I’m up in town for a meeting. Wondered if you were around for a quick coffee. I was going to ring but, well, here you are.”
“Love to,” I said. “But I’ve got to go to the hospital. See my granddad.”
“I thought you were working.”
“I am. It’s… it’s kind of connected.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’d love to meet him.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Course I’m sure.”
“He’s not at his best at the moment. Not very chatty.”
Abbey laughed. “Come on. We’ll get the bus.”
The 176 belched toward Dulwich, hissing and snarling through the sullen traffic. The bus was almost empty, and despite my situation, there was something rather pleasant in sitting on the top deck with Abbey whilst everyone else was hard at work. The world of the Prefects, the Directorate and the Blueprint Programme suddenly seemed a world away, something pulpy and ridiculous which had happened to somebody else. The grotesque reality of it all was brought back only when I turned in my seat and noticed the black car that was following us — Mr. Dedlock’s promised watchman.
“Hope I didn’t wake you this morning,” I said.
“Course not. But I was impressed you were up so early after last night.”
“I had to go to work.”
“God. This promotion… They’re pushing you hard, aren’t they?”
I shrugged. “Making me work for my money, I suppose.”
“Money?” she said. “Is that why you’re doing it?”
“No, not just the money,” I admitted.
She nodded sagely. “Job satisfaction. That’s what I like, too. It’d be wonderful to do something important. Something really worthwhile.”
“What, like charity work?�
��
“Maybe. I’m not sure, to be honest with you. Perhaps I’ll know it when I see it. I’d just like to make a contribution.”
“I think I understand.”
“I’ve missed having you around the flat,” Abbey said softly. “I’ve missed you.”
“Me, too,” I replied, and we sat in contented silence, enjoying whatever mysterious connection it was that we had begun to share. Naturally, I had to go and ruin it.
“Abbey?”
A soft smile. “Yes?”
“Who’s Joe?”
The smile fled from her lips to be replaced with a trembling impostor. “Where did you hear that name?”
“You whispered it this morning. You called me Joe.”
Abbey didn’t reply but only stared out the window, her pretty face filled with sadness and regret.
“Abbey?” I said. “Abbey?”
“Joe’s no one.” She mustered a feeble, unconvincing smile. “He’s a ghost, that’s all. Just a ghost.”
Strutting into the Prince of Wales’s private bedroom without even bothering to knock, Mr. Streater shouted: “Chief! Get your glad rags on! We’re going out!”
Arthur wandered in from the bathroom, his scanty hair still heavy and dripping with Brylcreem following his tragically inexpert attempts at styling it.
“Out?” said the prince, searching around for a towel. “What do you mean ‘out’?”
“Don’t stress. Nothing heavy. I’ve got a coupla buddies I’d like you to meet, that’s all.” Streater picked up a towel abandoned on the floor and tossed it over to him. “You looking for this?”
“I can’t go out,” said the prince. “I’m meant to plant a tree at a primary school this morning.”
Streater made calming motions with his hands. “Mate… Mate…” He slid something out of his pocket — another syringe loaded, inevitably, with the candy sizzle of ampersand. “You want some of this?”
Desire twisted inside him and the prince, submitting again to the demands of his new, remorseless mistress, could only nod dumbly.
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