Dodger

a perfectly good opportunity for bargaining flesh for a treaty.’
    Dodger was staring at Simplicity with his mouth open. A
princess
!? You had to be a knight or something even to rescue one, didn’t you? Charlie and Disraeli shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. And at this moment there was a discreet knock on the door and a man appeared with cups of coffee and plates of small cakes.
    ‘I believe, sir,’ Simplicity continued when they were alone once more, ‘that I am what is called “a displaced person”, and that there are those who wish me harm in this country. They have twice tried to abduct me since my arrival in England and it is only thanks to Dodger and, I believe, to you, Mister Dickens, that I am here today and not on some boat back to my husband. My mother, who – yes – was English, said that in England everybody is free. I would be very happy to stay here, sir, though even here I fear for my safety now I appear to be a person of some value. But if I should go back, I dread what might befall me. I am at a loss, gentlemen – safe nowhere. Not even in England, where no man, I am told, can be a slave. I trust, gentlemen, that this applies to ladies as well.’
    Charlie walked over and leaned on a mantelpiece and said, ‘What do you think about this, Ben?’
    Mister Disraeli looked like a man after someone had thrown a very large rock at his head and seemed, if only for a little while, at a loss for words. Finally he managed, ‘Well, madam, I am very sorry to hear of your situation but we, that is to say the British government, have been assured that if you go back you won’t be harmed.’
    At this point Dodger rose out of his chair at speed and said, ‘Would you trust them? Besides, not being harmed is one thing, being locked up where no one can see you is something else. I mean, you coves know about words. There’s a lot of bad things lurking around “won’t be harmed”.’
    ‘But how,’ said Disraeli, ‘could we be expected to guarantee Miss Simplicity’s safety while she remains on our shores? We all understand how neither the government of which we speak nor our own can be seen to be . . . interfering in this matter. But this does not mean that either party might not consider employing others to, let us say, act on their behalf. Now if Miss Simplicity should suffer harm whilst in our country, it might not bode well for . . . affairs between the two governments.’ He swallowed, as though fearing he had said too much.
    Dodger turned to Charlie. ‘That, sir, is why I – I mean, we – have taken the liberty of removing Simplicity from the house of Mister and Mrs Mayhew, kind though they have been to her, simply so that no harm befalls
them
. Whoever the people looking for Simplicity are, I don’t think they’re very nice. And you can trust me, sir, not to give up on this. If I can find those villains what treated her so cruel and make them pay, she won’t
have
to go back, will she? I can protect her.’
    Mister Disraeli squirmed a little in his chair and looked knowingly over at Charlie before replying, ‘Well, you see, my dear sir, it is all rather complicated. Right now the government of which we speak is demanding the return of this lady, who is, after all, married and therefore the rightful property of her husband. There are indeed people, even here, who think it quite sensible to send her back for the sake of peace between nations.’ He saw Dodger open his mouth to protest. ‘Mister Dodger, be aware that we have had enough of wars lately – I believe you know this rather well after your run-in with our Mister Todd – and all too many of them started over trivial things. I am sure you can see why this matter is so difficult.’
    Difficult? Dodger thought, his temper rising. They were treating Simplicity like she wasn’t a person, just some kind of bargaining counter in a game of politics. Even the Crown and Anchor man would give you better odds of winning! Suddenly his face was in front of Disraeli, who had been forced back into his chair. ‘There is nothing complicated, sir, not one thing,’ he cried. ‘A lady what has been beaten up by her old man and doesn’t want any more of it ain’t going back to where she is going to get more of the same. My word, that happens in the rookeries all the time and nobody waggles a finger exceptin’ the old man who suddenly has to wash his own unmentionables.’
    Before Disraeli could speak, there was a welcome comment