‘Can’t we go back—’ I began. But the look in her eyes flopped me. She hadn’t married, but there was no going back. The eyes that met mine were full of sadness. ‘Please go now, Dick,’ she said. ‘Alec will be back soon and—’
But suddenly I didn’t care about Alec. ‘I’ll wait,’ I said. ‘I’ve a message for him — from Maxwell in Czechoslovakia.’
Her eyes tensed and I knew then that she had some idea what her brother was doing. ‘Are you in this, too?’ she asked. ‘I thought—’ Her voice stopped there.
‘I got drawn into this by chance,’ I said quickly.
Her eyes were searching my face now as though she expected to see some change there. Suddenly she said, ‘Tell me about your leg. Was it very bad? Did you have a good surgeon?’
I laughed. Then I told her what had happened. I kept nothing back. I wallowed in self-destruction, explaining how it felt to have the bone sawn through without any anaesthetic, knowing that it would happen again and again. I saw that I was hurting her. But she didn’t stop me and I went on. ‘You see, I don’t remember anything. All I knew is I went under again, screaming and half delirious and when I came round I was told there would be no more operations, that they had got all—’
I stopped suddenly for I was conscious of a figure standing over us. I looked up. It was Alec Reece. I saw the muscles in his throat tighten and the blood come up into his face as anger gripped him. ‘I told you once, Farrell, that I’d break your neck if you ever tried to speak to my sister again.’ I had risen to my feet. ‘I suppose you thought I was safely out at the airfield.’ His influence was obvious and I felt my anger rising to match his.
‘Sit down, both of you.’ Alice’s voice was calm. I saw her hand catch her brother by the arm. ‘Dick has a message for you from Max.’
There was a baffled look in his eyes as he said, ‘Where did you see Maxwell?’
‘In Pilsen yesterday,’ I said. I turned to Alice. ‘Excuse us a minute.’ He followed me over to the window. ‘Has Tucek arrived?’ I asked.