‘We’re not general — we’re very particular public,’ growled Albert in his basso profundo. ‘And, yes, you may help us, Sunny Jim. Go inside to reception and tell Commander Sandilands his date for the evening is waiting below.’
The constable reacted at once to the name and hurried inside. He came out a minute later. ‘The commander is in his office and would be pleased to receive … um …’ He consulted a notebook, raised an eyebrow and battled on: ‘Miss Matty Harry, I believe he said? And requests her to kindly nip upstairs. She knows the way, he says.’ He gave Lily a playful but admiring salute before going back inside.
‘Cheeky blighter,’ Albert commented. ‘Can’t even get your name right. Are you sure about this, Miss Lily? There’s some rum coves work in this building,’ he went on, surprising her. Albert’s communications were normally restricted to ‘yes’ and ‘no’ or, at best, a grudging ‘if you say so, Miss Phyl’. ‘There’s men in there with wide smiles and serpents’ tongues. Not to be trusted, any of ’em.’ He turned a look on her that might almost have been thought tender. ‘I mean not any of ’em. Watch it, Miss Lily. Me, I’d line ’em up and machine-gun the whole boiling.’
‘Gracious, Albert! I’m only having dinner with my boss.’
Too late, she realized this information would do nothing to allay the fears of the muscled Puritan by her side.
‘Boss, miss? Dinner, miss?’
‘It’s not social, Albert … It’s more in the nature of an interview. I think he wants to establish that I know how to hold my cutlery correctly.’ She fell silent, realizing that she was failing to persuade Albert that the commander was not an evil exploiter.
‘Got it. In that case, I’ll hang about and wait till you come out and then I’ll follow you to the Café Royal or whatever den of iniquity these interviews get done in these days,’ he said. ‘We wouldn’t want to risk a scene and go upsetting Miss Phyllis.’
Albert lived to please Auntie Phyl and Lily understood his anxiety. ‘She wouldn’t expect you to go so far, Albert. Better do just as she told you and no more. Anyway, I shall be out late — past midnight, I’d say.’ With a sudden rush of affection for the obdurate old thug, she turned to him and landed a kiss on his scarred cheek before he was aware the assault was coming. ‘Don’t fret about me, Albert. I’ll remember what you told me to do if he turns nasty — eyes, knees and bumps a daisy!’ She mimed vicious stabs on three sensitive parts of the male anatomy. ‘And I’ve got my running shoes on.’
The same young constable was loitering in the vestibule. ‘Allow me to conduct you upstairs, miss,’ he said, oozing affability. ‘It’s quite a warren in here and, the commander being on the third floor and you in your finery, I thought you might like me to show you to the lift.’