AT CAVENDISH SQUARE, Ferguson was seated at the desk holding the telephone, face grave when Harry Fox came in from the study with a telex message. Ferguson made a quick gesture with one hand, then said, ‘Thank you, Minister,’ and replaced the receiver.
‘Trouble, sir?’ Fox asked.
‘As far as I’m concerned it is. The Foreign Office have just informed me that the Pope’s visit is definitely on. The Vatican will make an announcement within the next few hours. What have you got?’
‘Telex, sir. Information on the Task Force’s progress. The bad news is that HMSAntelope has finally sunk. She was bombed by Skyhawks yesterday. The good news is that seven Argentinian jets have been brought down.’
‘I’d be happier about that if I saw the wreckage, Harry. Probably half that figure in actuality. Battle of Britain all over again.’
‘Perhaps, sir. Everybody claims a hit in the heat of the moment. It can be confusing.’
Ferguson stood up and lit one of his cheroots. ‘I don’t know, sometimes the bloody roof just seems to fall in. I’ve got the Pope coming, which we could well have done without. Cuchulain still on the loose over there, and now this nonsense about the Argentinians trying to buy Exocet missiles on the black market in Paris. Orders have gone through to pull Tony Villiers from behind enemy lines in the Falk-lands?’
‘No problem, sir. He’s being off-loaded by submarine in Uruguay. Flying from Montevideo by Air France direct to Paris. Should be there tomorrow.’
‘Good. You’ll have to go over on the shuttlf. Brief him thoroughly, then get straight back here.’
‘Will that be enough, sir?’
‘Good God, yes. You know what Tony’s like when he gets moving. Hell on wheels. He’ll sort the opposition out over there, no problem. I need you here, Harry. What about the Voroninova girl?’
‘As I told you, sir, we stopped off at Harrods on the way from Heathrow to get her a few things. Only had what she stood up in.’
‘She’ll be broke, of course,’ Ferguson said. ‘We’ll have to tap the contingency fund.’
‘As a matter of fact that won’t be necessary, sir. It seems she has a very substantial bank account here. Record royalties and so on. She certainly won’t have any difficulty in earning her living. They’ll be clamouring for her, all the impresarios, when they know she’s available.’
‘That will have to wait. She’s very definitely to stay under wraps until I say so. What’s she like?’
‘Very nice indeed, sir. I settled her into the spare room and she was having a bath.’
‘Yes, well don’t let’s make her too comfortable, Harry. We want to get on with this thing. I’ve heard from Devlin and it seems another of McGuiness’s hatchet men, the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on Cherny, has turned up in the Liffey. He doesn’t waste time, our friend.’
‘I see, sir,’ Fox said. ‘So what are you suggesting?’
‘We’ll get her over to Dublin now – this afternoon. You can escort her, Harry. Hand her over to Devlin at the airport, then get back here. You can go to Paris on the morning shuttle.’
Fox said mildly, ‘She might just feel like sitting down for a moment. Taking a deep breath. That sort of thing.’
‘So would we all, Harry, and if that’s a subtle way of telling me how you feel, then all I can say is you should have taken that job they offered you at your uncle’s merchant bank. Start at ten, finish at four.’
‘And terribly, terribly boring, sir.’
Kim opened the door at that moment and ushered in Tanya Voroninova. Her eyes were slightly hollowed, but she looked surprisingly well, the general effect enhanced by the blue cashmere sweater and neat tweed skirt she had purchased at Harrods. Fox made the introductions.
‘Miss Voroninova. A great pleasure,’ Ferguson said. ‘You’ve certainly had an active time of it. Please sit down.’
She sat on the couch by the fire. ‘Have you any idea what’s happening in Paris?’ she asked.
‘Not yet,’ Fox said. ‘We’ll find out in the end, but if you want an educated guess, the KGB never care for failure at the best of times and if we consider your foster-father’s special interest in this case…’ He shrugged. ‘I wouldn’t care to be in Turkin or Shepilov’s shoes.’