To All Eternity
Page 32
Except in my three children, he remembered.
*
“Ah, Berkeley,” General Gorman said. “Welcome home. Who have you brought with you this time?”
“My three children,” Berkeley said. It had taken Lockwood and himself five weeks to get from Belgrade to Athens and thence to London. “Are the rumours I have been hearing correct?”
“That we are at war? Yes, they are correct. We declared war on Germany yesterday morning. I never knew you had three children. Is your wife well?”
“My wife is dead, sir.”
“Oh, what a shame. Still, these things happen. I would say you’re due for a spot of leave.”
“May I ask, sir, why we are at war?”
“Well, Belgium, I suppose. The Germans really shouldn’t have invaded Belgium. Still, don’t you know, we were going to have to fight them some time, some place. Now is as good a time as any. I’m not blaming you, Berkeley. If you’d managed to nab the Kaiser, well, things might have been different. But, man proposes and God disposes, eh? As for reactivating the Black Hand, I think we need to keep that a secret, between you, me and Toby Smailes. Oh, by the way, the Braddocks were here a couple of days ago. Well, Mrs Braddock was. Her husband is still in Sarajevo. But he’ll have to be pulled out now, I suppose. Anyway, she wishes to be in touch.”
“Yes, sir. Am I going to be employed, now that we’re at war?”
“Well, now,” Gorman said. “Yes, I think we will be able to find something for a man of your peculiar talents to do. Death and destruction is your natural state, is it not? I’ll be in touch.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And don’t forget to chase up Mrs Braddock, eh? Weren’t you engaged to her once?”
“No, sir,” Berkeley said. “We were never engaged.”
I don’t think we ever really liked each other, he thought, as he went down the stairs.
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