Then she shook her head. "Never mind," she said—apparently to herself. "Forget it, love. Go like an angel and fetch us both some coffee."
Like an angel he went ... not, he thought bitterly, like a man.
She was keeping something from him, and he was too stubborn to let her tease him out of his mood. "Everything's a secret," he complained, and she patted his cheek.
"It has to be that way." She was quite serious. "This is the biggest thing in the world. I'm fond of you, love, but I can't let that interfere with my duty."
"Shto, Rosie?" said Chandler's mouth thickly.
"Oh, there you are, Andrei," she said, and spoke quickly in Russian.
Chandler's brows knotted in a scowl and he barked: "Nyeh mozhet bit!"
"Andrei...." she said gently. "Ya vas sprashnivayoo...."
"Nyet!"