“Don’t you believe it, my boy, Rex and the Duke are still in prison, here, in Kiev, and thank God they are. I’ve been terrified that they’d have been shot by this time.”
Simon was sitting up now, his mouth wide open.
“It’s not true, Richard. She fixed up everything. Got special permits for them to leave the country, from Stalin. It took a bit longer than in my case, but she told me, only yesterday, that they’d been taken under escort to the station, and were on their way home.”
“Then she told you a lie! She said, herself, to me, in Moscow, that the only way to get you out was to marry you and keep you here. You knew too much for them to let you leave the country. She couldn’t marry Rex and the Duke as well, and they were enemies of Russia, anyway, so they could go to the devil as far as she was concerned. I should never have left Moscow, but she threatened to turn poor little Marie Lou over to the police — so I got out while the going was good.”
“That’s days ago, Richard. About Marie Lou, it was different. She’s jealous because Marie Lou looked after my leg. Got some silly idea that the girl’s in love with me — you know what women are. She wouldn’t have handed her over to the police really, but I dare say she was glad to get her out of the way. Rex and the Duke are different, she’d never deceive me about that.”
“I’m sorry, Simon.” Richard shook his head. “I know you’re in love with her, and it’s rotten for me to have to tell you all this. I don’t say that she wouldn’t have got them out if she could, just to please you, but she’s not powerful enough. Rex and De Richleau are still here, in Kiev. I know because one of our secret service people in Vienna put me on to a gaoler called Shubin at the Kievo-Pecher-Lavra. I saw him this morning, and they’re only waiting for instructions from Moscow to have them both shot.”
“Good God! What the devil can we do?”
“I don’t know. I’m worried out of my wits.”
Simon groaned. “To think I’ve been sitting here doing nothing since Sunday. If only I’d known.”
“My dear old boy, you didn’t know. It’s no use fussing yourself about that. The thing is, what can we do?”