He shook his head. “It’s sweet of you to want to come, but it’s absolutely out of the question.”
“But why?” she argued. “With me, also, no one in Kiev knows that I am the friend of your friends, even if my description has been sent out from Romanovsk. Who would recognize me in my new clothes?”
“That’s true enough, all the same it just can’t be done. The one bright spot in this whole ghastly mess is that you are out of danger.”
“You are wrong to refuse to take me,” she said, earnestly. “What will you do in Kiev, all on your own, you cannot speak one word of Russian!”
“I know, that’s the devil, isn’t it?” Richard admitted. “Means one can’t make any inquiries at all, except through the consulate. But, all the same, it would be frightfully dangerous for you to enter Russia again unless you are protected by a proper passport, so it’s useless to talk about it.”
Gerry Bruce looked from one to the other with an amused smile. “Pity you’re not really married,” he said, with a twinkle. “Nothing to stop a chappie taking his wife anywhere. She goes on the same passport.”
There was dead silence at the little table, the astute Gerry was thoroughly enjoying Richard’s embarrassment. “Wedding bells at the Embassy tomorrow morning, and there you are,” he continued, quickly. “Always get an annulment afterwards if you don’t — er — that is, if you feel you’d rather not keep it up.”
“Is that true, Monsieur?” asked Marie Lou.
“What nonsense!” exclaimed Richard. “This isn’t a French farce — besides, it might not be so easy to get an annulment afterwards as you think, and Marie Lou might not like the idea of being tied up to me all in a hurry like that!”
“I have not been asked,” said Marie Lou, with her wicked little smile.