The Chemickal Marriage

face turned behind him.
    ‘What is it
now
?’ called Colonel Bronque with impatience.
    Miss Temple darted behind a curtain, flattening her dress and carefully angling her eye to peer out. The imperious voice that had called she recognized too well.
    The Colonel stepped aside at the Contessa’s entrance, and gave a grim nod to the two soldiers who were her escort, before closing the door in their faces.
    ‘What has happened now?’ Bronque’s voice was wary, but the Contessa’s reply was only plaintive.
    ‘Where have you
been
?’ she complained. ‘I expected you this last hour, but have seen only that horrid Drusus Schoepfil. Such preening
satisfaction
.’
    ‘Why should you care? If he has taken you under his protection –’
    ‘I am his to deliver to the law at any time.’ The Contessa caught the Colonel’s hand. ‘
You
are my only friend. If you go, I am at Schoepfil’s mercy.’
    ‘Rosamonde, please. If you’ve been honest –’
    The Contessa slapped the Colonel’s face with an echoing crack.
    ‘
Honest?
’ she cried. ‘There is a warrant for my life. Everything I know of Vandaariff’s intentions I have told you both.’
    Bronque said nothing. In the charged silence she traced the red mark on his cheek with an extended finger.
    ‘Such indifference
humbles
a lady.’
    ‘I have explained, once I return –’
    ‘And if you don’t?’
    ‘Robert Vandaariff’s hired brutes cannot stand against trained regiments.’
    ‘But you’ve not said where you are going – or why.’
    ‘You must make yourself content.’
    ‘That’s very cruel.’
    Bronque caught her finger in his hand. ‘Then you must be content with my cruelty.’
    ‘Must I?’ The Contessa ducked her head. ‘May I ask just one more tiny, tiny question?’
    ‘By God, you will press every advantage. What is it?’
    ‘Were you a friend of Francis Xonck?’
    Her voice retained the same shy lilt, but the Colonel’s indulgent smile froze. ‘Why in hell do you mention
him
?’
    ‘Because you never said how you met Drusus Schoepfil, how you became of use.’
    ‘We are
partners
–’
    ‘Schoepfil is nothing to his uncle, after all – always the dog smelling supper from another room. Admittedly, a clever dog – no doubt why Vandaariff distrusted him. Smart animals make people nervous.’
    Bronque sighed. ‘We have spoken too long. You must go back, and be patient –’
    ‘Blue Caesar blue palace ice consumption.’
    She whispered the words and then stepped away. A shudder shook Bronque’s body. His eyes went dull.
    ‘Drusus Schoepfil is a boat that can venture only on the smoothest seas. He doubts. He trusts no one – which means he should not trust you … yet he apparently
does
. At first I wondered why, but then it was clear –
Francis
. I can imagine your relief at his death, silencing the secret of your corruption. But Schoepfil guessed, didn’t he?’
    ‘He’d seen me at Harschmort … knew I played cards with Arthur Trapping …’
    ‘And so you secretly underwent the Process. Did you enjoy it?’
    Miss Temple recalled Roger Bascombe on the dirigible, slumped against a wall, calmly confessing his own treachery. Every initiate of the Process was instilled with a control phrase. The speaking of this phrase, which the Contessa had deduced from her knowledge of Xonck, delivered the initiate intothe power of the speaker, a passive state in which any questions would be answered and all commands obeyed. Colonel Bronque’s reply was vacant and cool.
    ‘
Enormously
.’
    ‘You planned to betray me all along.’
    ‘Of course.’
    The Contessa slapped Bronque’s face twice more, echoing blows that left a bead of red at the corner of his mouth. ‘
Tell me
.’
    ‘Schoepfil will sell you to Vandaariff, forcing a meeting where Vandaariff will be killed.’
    The Contessa’s lips curled with fury. ‘
Why?
’
    ‘We no longer need you.’ Bronque’s reply was distant. ‘And Harcourt’s warrant for your death absolves our action.’
    ‘Where are you going now?’
    ‘First to Axewith, so he knows the Queen has refused his writ, then to Vandaariff, to arrange your sale. After the Queen’s denial, he will leap at the chance, and we will have him.’
    ‘And where is Axewith?’
    ‘At the fire. The longer he is distracted, the more time we have.’
    ‘What weapons do you carry, apart from that ridiculous sword?’
    Bronque unbuttoned his jacket and plucked out a horn-handled clasp-knife. ‘I keep this for