“I serve no Party,” Dominey said quietly, “only my Country.”
Terniloff sighed.
“Alas! there is no time for us to enter into one of our old arguments on the ethics of government. I must send you away, Von Ragastein. You have a terrible task before you. I am bound to wish you Godspeed. For myself I shall not raise my head again until I have left England.”
“There is no other commission?” Dominey asked. “No other way in which I can serve you?”
“None,” Terniloff answered sadly. “I am permitted to suffer no inconveniences. My departure is arranged for as though I were royalty. Yet believe me, my friend, every act of courtesy and generosity which I receive in these moments, bites into my heart. Farewell!”
Dominey found a taxicab in Pall Mall and drove back to Berkeley Square. He found Rosamund with a little troop of dogs, just entering the gardens, and crossed to her side.
“Dear,” he asked, taking her arm, “would you mind very much coming down to Norfolk for a few days?”
“With you?” she asked quickly.
“Yes! I want to be in retreat for a short time. There are one or two things I must settle before I take up some fresh work.”
“I should love it,” she declared enthusiastically. “London is getting so hot, and every one is so excited.”