Something Wicked (34 page)

‘Instead of which,’ Verity said, stroking his cheek, ‘he had a shark. But, if Violet Booth hadn’t confronted him on the launch, would you have been able to stop him?’

‘I’d told the police what I suspected but they wanted proof. Perhaps I wouldn’t have got to him before he finished me off but I think he was arrogant and I think he was becoming careless. He was also getting bored . . . that was always his problem. I don’t think he would have killed me without giving himself the pleasure of telling me how stupid I had been, but who knows? Violet Booth saved my life as I have already told her. In the end, a woman Harry knew nothing about took her revenge for the death of her sister and the destruction of her niece’s life.’

‘And Stille’s dead too. I can hardly believe it,’ Verity said after a pause. ‘I almost wish he had lived to see his precious Third Reich reduced to dust and ashes.’

‘Assuming it is,’ Edward said gloomily.

‘In the meantime,’ she said, cuddling up to him, ‘we have a few more weeks of peace. What shall we do with them? What if I’m not better and the doctors insist I go to a sanatorium?’

‘You
are
better. You certainly look better despite everything you’ve been through, but whatever happens, I think we should get married. I realized when I thought I had lost you – when I
had
lost you – that Harry was right in one respect at least – I couldn’t live without you. It sounds melodramatic, I know, but it’s the truth. I don’t mean that, if you weren’t here, I’d cut my throat. I suppose I’d be able to go on from day to day, but you give my life meaning. I think Harry sensed somehow that, because he didn’t know what it meant to love, his life was meaningless.’ He turned to look at her, almost spilling his drink as he did so. ‘Will you marry me soon, V? We could do it secretly if you want, without any fuss, in a register office.’

‘Yes please!’ Verity said. ‘I do love you, Edward. When I was in that horrid damp hole, I thought of you and it kept me going. I was sure you would find me so I never quite gave up. I knew then that, if I did get out and you still wanted me, I would be very proud to marry you. You’re the only man I trust absolutely – and I include my father in that. But I’m not much of a catch, you know. I’m ill and out of a job. I’m fractious and un-reasonable and your relations think I’m not good enough for you. Shall we get married tomorrow?’

Historical Note

During the war, Jack Amery lectured and broadcast on behalf of the Germans, and attempted to recruit a ‘Legion of St George’ to fight the Russians from Britons who were interned in a camp at St Denis, outside Paris. He was unsuccessful. After the war he was arrested and tried as a traitor. He pleaded guilty and was hanged on 19 December 1945.

Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin, the Pomeranian conservative politician who came to England in 1938 in a fruitless attempt to generate support for those who opposed Hitler within Germany, continued to work for Hitler’s removal throughout the war. He and his son were involved in several plots to kill Hitler including Stauffenberg’s briefcase bomb which just failed to kill him on 19 July 1944. Kleist-Schmenzin was arrested the following day and hanged at Plötzensee Prison in Berlin on 9 April 1945. His son was sent to the Eastern Front but survived the war.

Finally, apologies to Radley – they, not Eton, won the Ladies’ Plate in 1938 when they beat an excellent Pembroke College eight in the remarkable time of six minutes and fifty-six seconds.