“No you haven’t.”
He was momentarily nonplused. “I haven’t what?”
“You haven’t apologized.”
“I just did.”
“No, you admitted fault. But you expressed no remorse, and you definitely didn’t ask for forgiveness.”
Guy tried not to grit his teeth. “I’m sorry.”
“Apology accepted.” Was that a smile he heard in her voice? He hoped so.
“But please be more careful in future. Now, where were you off to before you got so lost? I’m tolerably familiar with this part of town. Perhaps I can direct you.”
Well, she was rapidly tumbling down the list of people he wanted to get to know better, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help him.
“Grosvenor Square,” he answered politely.
“Ah, you must be attached to the American Embassy.”
“Well, I’m not attached in the sense of being an attaché or anything,” he replied cautiously. “But I am staying there. I’ve got a buddy who lives there, and he puts me up when I’m in England.”
“What a pity. I’m sure you believe your way with words could be put to good use in the diplomatic corps.”
It was quite clear it was a belief she in no way shared. In fact, she was starting to remind him of Miss Mapplethorpe, his grade three teacher and the only woman he’d ever met who seemed to be completely impervious to his charm. He’d spent more time in detention as an eight-year-old than he had in the rest of his school years combined. He was beginning to get the awful feeling that if she did get around to giving him directions to the Embassy he’d be forced to copy them out one hundred times—in his best copperplate writing—as punishment.
He decided his best course would probably be to ignore her deliberately provocative remark and carry on as if she hadn’t spoken. It was the mature thing to do.
Even if it killed him.
“So, am I close?” he asked. “I feel like I’ve been wandering around for hours. Though I might hope to hear the Bow Bells, for all I know the next time I hear a bell ring it will be coming from Canterbury Cathedral, or maybe York Minster, and they’re both a long, long way from Grosvenor Square!”
“You’d better hope you don’t hear a church bell ringing. The only time they sound these days is to warn of an air raid.”
Uh oh. He was pretty sure that if a bell rang now she’d lay the blame squarely on his shoulders—him and his stupid lighter, which come to think of it, was lying around on the sidewalk somewhere, or maybe in the gutter, just like his late, lamented fedora.
“I’ll remember that. It’ll be hard getting used to, though. No bells at all? Not even at Westminster?”
“Big Ben still tolls, but very few others. You haven’t been here very long, have you?” It was the first remotely friendly thing she’d said, and Guy hoped it marked a crack in her stern façade.
“Just flew in earlier today. I decided to take a walk and clear my head to stop myself from falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon, and I kind of lost track of the time. Before I knew it, it was pitch dark, and I may as well have been wandering around on the face of the moon.”
Not that the moon would be this chilly, he thought with a shiver. At the very least, it would probably be a little lighter.
“Well, I very much doubt the men in the moon have the same kinds of cities we do, so that hardly seems like a sensible conclusion to jump to.”
“Oh I don’t know. They might be watching us through very strong telescopes, and if that’s the case, I don’t see how they can come up with a better example of a beautiful city than London.” Guy thought about the things that made London what it was. Buckingham Palace and the other stately buildings, the bridges stretched at intervals across the Thames, Kew Gardens and all the other parks spread throughout the city. It was true, he realized. “They could be confirmed Anglophiles and might have worked hard to reproduce it so exactly that a comparative stranger like me would easily fall into the trap of thinking it was the real thing. If I dared I’d strike a light right now to make sure you weren’t a little green man, I mean little green woman.”
“I suppose under the circumstance I can’t prove it, but I assure you I’ve very much the usual size and color of woman you’d normally expect to find walking around London. Perhaps my voice can convince you. Looking through a telescope shouldn’t enable the moon men to speak English, I would have supposed.”
She was clearly getting into the spirit of things now. Guy was happy to keep the discussion going if only to listen to the full, round sound of her ever-so-proper voice.
“Oh, but they could have technology of which we can only dream. In which case they could be listening to us as easily as watching us,” Guy assured her.
“Well in that case, they must have a more advanced civilization than our own, and I have to assume that means that they have more imagination than to simply imitate and simulate someone else’s culture.”
Guy laughed. It was a pleasant and unexpected sound in the cold, damp environment, bringing a hint of warmth to the streets.
“I can’t argue with that,” he admitted. “You got me. Until proved otherwise I’ll assume you’re a true blue, dyed-in-the-wool English woman.”
“Thank you,” she replied primly. “And in exchange I’ll assume you’re a genuine, lost American rather than an evil German spy signalling to his compatriots overhead.”
“Thank you. I appreciate not being immediately equated with Adolph Hitler the first time I meet a girl.”
“Does that happen often?”
“Well, not so far, but there’s a first time for everything they tell me.”
It was her turn to laugh, a bright sound in the cold air. “Well, let’s hope I’m not mistaken. I’d hate to be the one who actually led a Nazi infiltrator to the American Embassy.”
“No, I expect it wouldn’t do your reputation much good at all. But does this mean you know how to get there from here.”
“You’re actually not that far away. I can take you there if you like. It’s only a couple of minutes’ walk.”
“I don’t want to take you out of your way.”
“You won’t be. This is my bailiwick and the sooner I get you off the streets and into some kind of shelter the happier I’ll be.”
Guy wasn’t sure what she meant by her bailiwick, but there was no doubting the nonsense conversation about little green men had loosened her up a bit, and he had no objections to walking through the darkened streets with a pretty girl on his arm. And despite the fact that he couldn’t see her, he had no doubt about her physical qualifications for the designation. Men just knew these things.
He decided to push his luck a little more.
“If it’s that close would you mind hanging on for a sec? I, uh, kind of lost hold of my lighter, and I’d like to see if I can find it.”
“Oh.” It was clear she could see the justice of his request. “Did you hear which way it fell?”
“I think it might have skittered into the street. Hang on, and I’ll feel around for it.”
He made to crouch down, but she grabbed his arm before he had a chance.
“I don’t recommend feeling around in the gutter if you don’t want to contract six kinds of contagious disease. Even assuming you don’t cut yourself on the bits of glass and mortar that haven’t yet found their way into the sweepers’ bins.”
Guy grimaced. He hadn’t thought of that. Under these conditions it would be all too easy to lay his hand on something less than salubrious. “It’s kind of precious to me, though. My dad gave it to me when I graduated from college, and even though I don’t smoke, I’ve been carrying it around with me ever since.”
“Well in that case we certainly can’t leave it lying around in the street for anyone to find come the morning light. Just be very careful. I’ll give you a hand.”
Before he could stop her, she’d crouched down.
“Don’t worry, I’m wearing gloves and trousers. I won�
�t hurt myself,” she said as he started to protest. Feeling a little foolish standing there with his mouth agape, he quickly crouched down beside where he could just make out the dark silhouette of her body and started to feel around.
Despite the lack of light, it didn’t take them long to find the lighter, its distinct rectangular shape easy to distinguish amidst the broken down detritus of the street.
“Got it!” Guy cried as his hand closed around the familiar steel. He stood up and immediately held out his other hand. “Let me lift you out of the gutter,” he said without thinking.
“I beg your pardon?”
Her tone was more amused than annoyed, and Guy grinned again.
“Oops, I meant let me help you to your feet.”
“Too late. I’ve managed to drag myself into respectability without your assistance, thank you very much. Although I’m sure you’d make a perfectly wonderful Sir Lancelot with women who can’t somehow manage to rescue themselves.”
She brushed off the knees of her trousers as she spoke and clapped her gloves together to rid them of dust.
“I’m glad you’re so discerning,” he said. “I’m afraid that, like the sun, my armor doesn’t shine at night.”
“Yes, I can see that if you have to rely on outward appearances to reveal your chivalry, daylight would be a great help. Speaking of which…” She glanced up at the sky. “The clouds are beginning to clear, and the moon will rise soon. We’d better get you somewhere safe before Herr Goering decides to chance his luck.”
“You know, where I come from it’s the men that protect the women. Not the other way around. I know it’s dark out and everything, but you’re starting to give me a complex. What kind of a man do you think I am? By rights I should be protecting you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I step on your male ego in the dark?” Once again she sounded amused. “I didn’t realize we were grappling with a question of traditional masculine and feminine roles. In fact, I didn’t even realize such technicalities came into the mix at all. As the warden for this part of London, it’s my job to ensure that everyone who lives in the area is as safe as possible. I was merely extending the same courtesy to you. I assure you a male warden would have escorted you, or a woman, to your destination as readily as I’m escorting you, or, indeed, as I’d escort another woman. Does that make you feel better?”
There was that brisk, no nonsense voice. She was starting to sound like Miss Mapplethorpe again.
“Well, if you put it that way, I’d be churlish to refuse. But, I want you to promise that if we run into a gang of ruffians or Nazis or any other bad guy type people, you’ll allow me to play the hero and defend you, not the other way around. I don’t think I could live with myself if I stood there like a sissy while you clobbered the bunch.”
She laughed. It was a throaty, warm sound.
“If we come upon anyone more dangerous looking than a nanny pushing a pram, I promise to stand back and let you do your stuff,” she said. “However, given the state of the streets and pavement, I hope you’ll allow me to remain standing and not swoon away like a complete Fainting Fanny.” She paused for a second before adding with an appearance of conciliation, “I could hold my hands to my cheeks and emit little yelps of horror as you thrash them if it would make you feel better.”
“Well I dunno.” Guy laughed. “I think if we saw a nanny pushing a baby buggy at this time of night and under these circumstances, I’d find them mighty suspicious just on general principles.”
“You may have a point. Nonetheless I think it would be wise to refrain from doing anything too drastic without first ascertaining their intentions, just in case.”
“Okay, that sounds fair.”
“And perhaps we should get started before the bombazine hordes get wind of our position and start to circle.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Guy answered promptly. “Which way?”
“Well, I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but in exactly the opposite direction to which you were heading.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’ve been heading in every direction on the map. In another few minutes, I’d have been trying to figure out how to manage up and down since they were the only ones I hadn’t yet tried.”
He offered her his arm and realized as he did so that she had been correct in her assessment of the cloud cover. The dark cloth of the sleeve of his woolen coat was quite distinct in the general gloom, and she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm without hesitation.
A quietness fell upon them as they started to walk, the echo of their footsteps the only sound in the darkness. Despite their earlier banter, the silence didn’t seem unnatural or awkward in any way. It was more companionable, comfortable.
Guy was just starting to relax into the rhythm of walking along the dark street with a girl on his arm when she spoke.
“So, if it isn’t too intrusive, may I ask what brings you to the midst of a war torn city? You’re not in uniform, and you say you’re not attached to the diplomatic corps, so you must have come of your own accord. We’re not exactly in the middle of the tourist season. In fact, no one in their right mind who doesn’t live here visits London in February even in the best of circumstances. Are you here on business? It seems frightfully brave of you to risk the crossing for the sake of commerce, or is that just my own ignorance shining through?”
“Actually it’s a family matter. I’m trying to find my Uncle John,” he began before being interrupted.
“Oh, it’s personal,” she said. “How foolish of me. I didn’t think of that. Don’t tell me, if you’d rather not. I’m terribly meddlesome, and I’m afraid I’ve got into the habit of poking my nose into everyone’s affairs. But that’s absolutely no excuse for indulging me. Just tell me to mind my own business. I assure you I won’t take offense,” she concluded earnestly.
“No, really, it’s no big deal. It’s not private or anything,” Guy hastened to assure her. “My Uncle John is my mother’s younger brother—she kind of raised him after their parents died—and he lives here in England now. He served over here during the Great War and married a local girl, and then instead of bringing her back home when the war ended, he stayed here. I guess he became a kind of a war groom instead of his wife becoming a war bride. Anyway, my mother is probably the most protective woman on the face of the planet, and she’s been worrying more and more about him. It was driving my father nuts, so I said I’d come over and see if I could persuade him to come back to the States for the duration of the war so everyone could get some sleep.”
“Does he have a family here? What about his wife?”
“She died a couple of years ago, and my cousin is actually at university in the States so Uncle John’s here all by himself. That’s part of the reason Mom wants him home. She figures he needs taking care of.”
“If she’s that protective, I’m surprised she let you come over here and look for him.”
“Yeah, well. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
“She doesn’t know you’re here?” Molly sounded torn between laughter and shock.
“I am an adult you know,” Guy answered in some amusement. “I can cross the street by myself and pick out my own clothes. I even shave almost every day whether I need to or not. I do all kinds of grown up things now.”
She wisely decided to let that pass.
“So you just decided to come over here in the middle of a war to collect your uncle? It seems very high handed. What if he’d rather stay where he is?”
“Well, then my mother will just have to put up with it. But I thought it was worth giving it a shot. If he says no, he says no. I’m not going to force him.”
“That’s very good of you.”
Was there a hint of mockery in her voice?
“Like me, he’s a big boy now.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I was laughing at you. I think it’s admirable that you’d go to all that trouble to put your mother’s mind at ease. She’s a ver
y lucky woman. But you must have a very understanding employer.”
“Yes, I do. My father. I joined the family business when I graduated from university.”
“Well, that is convenient, isn’t it?”
“Very,” he answered. What was she implying? “I do work pretty hard, you know.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Of course you do. Well, that is, I don’t know. I don’t even know what it is you do, but I’m sure you do it very well, whatever it is. And very diligently. Not that I’m prying,” she added resolutely.
“Oh course not. I’m a mechanical engineer. I design parts for aeroplanes.”
“Oh, it sounds terribly exciting.”
“Not as exciting as flying them. I’m afraid I’m stuck behind a desk or in front of a drawing board all day. Not that I’m complaining,” he assured her. “It’s fascinating work. So what do you do to fill the days?”
“Well, mostly my job fills my nights. I’m an APR warden—that stands for Air Raid Precautions.” Before he could ask her what that meant she continued, “We’ll just turn down here and that should take us straight to Grosvenor Square.”
He peered at the narrow opening between two looming buildings. It couldn’t have been more than five or six feet wide. Even the shadows were invisible in the pervasive darkness.
“Are you sure?” His tone was dubious. “It doesn’t look safe.”
“The nice thing about wandering round at night in the Blitz is that no street is more dangerous than any other. I might have hesitated to duck down a dark alley under normal circumstances, but these days getting from point A to point B as quickly as possible is the only criterion for choosing a route. Only a fool would be lurking down here with less than benign intentions when they have the entire city to prowl through.”
She tugged on his arm. “Come along. I’ll bet most nannies feel exactly the way you do about dark alleys. So that’s one less thing to worry about.”
He shrugged, even though she couldn’t see the motion. “You’re the boss.”
The alley wasn’t very long, and they made their way through without incident. Not even a cat yowled as they passed, and if there were any miscreants about, they weren’t interested in tackling them.
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