Page 67 of Sands of Sirocco
She glared at him.“That he told me nothing of relevance to you.Unless you’d like to hear his declarations of love for me.”
“Maybe I would.”Osborne crossed his arms.“I’d certainly prefer that to your lies.”He stared down his nose at her.“We followed Colonel Benson to a nationalist meeting last evening.He disappeared after that, only to reappear—much to our surprise—outside your home.”
She gathered her shredded dignity from the floorboards.“I have nothing more to say about my interactions with Colonel Benson last night.”
Osborne gave her a disdainful look.“Don’t forget who you work for, Lady Virginia.Benson has been stalking me lately, trying to corner me.I don’t know what it is you told him, but I fear I was wrong in confiding anything to you.Get back to work.”
Her face burned as she left the office.She was utterly humiliated.Angry with Noah for putting her in such a compromising situation.He had been careless in his drunkenness.She was furious with herself for allowing it.
She’d known the CID watched her closely.
How foolish could she be?
Her expression must have reflected her distress as she opened the door to the office.Across the hall, Jane straightened, then gave her a concerned look.
Before Jane could say anything, Osborne came out behind her.“Excuse me, ladies.”He tipped his hat at Jane.“Good day.”
“Oh, Mr.Osborne, one question.The soldier who was brought in last night was attacked.He mentioned a name after surgery.”Jane held out her note.“Benthon.Should I go to Cairo police or speak to the army?I’m not sure if the procedure is different here compared to the way we handled this sort of thing in Malta.”
Oh, God, no.Ginger felt the blood drain from her face.
Osborne’s eyes swiveled to Ginger’s face, and he took the note from Jane.“Benthon?”Despite the lisp Jane had given the name, Osborne was too bright not to be suspicious.This time he didn’t bother to request a private audience.“Nothing to tell me, Lady Virginia?”The rebuke in his voice was acidic.
“I forgot about this,” Ginger’s voice was an aching whisper, but she held herself with whatever last shred of pride she could.
Osborne gave Jane a pleasant smile.“Take me to the soldier.I’ll handle the situation myself.”
Damn him, damn him, damn him.
Ginger remained fixed in place as Jane and Osborne’s footsteps retreated down the hallway.She crumpled against the doorway to Jane’s office, bracing herself against the frame.She struggled to breathe, and tears stung her eyes.She wouldn’t cry, not here.
The worst part was that she didn’t even know which of them she was most angry with—Osborne or Noah.
At the sound of footsteps approaching once more, Ginger straightened.Her cheeks still flamed as Jane came to her side.
The surgeon appeared to see through her attempt at disguising her emotions.Jane bit her lower lip, then checked her wristwatch.The radium-painted dials glowed in the dark hallway.“Why don’t you take the test tomorrow?It’s been a trying morning.”
Truthfully, Ginger had no desire to take a test.She was too distracted.“I’m afraid I’m not quite myself at the moment.”
“I can see that.”Jane glanced down the hall.“I hope you don’t find it terribly intrusive of me to ask, but Mr.Osborne didn’t mistreat you, did he?I know how men in positions of authority can be, even pleasant ones like Mr.Osborne.”
Ginger was tempted to trust her with her struggles.But she hardly knew Jane.There was no telling how well she knew Osborne either.“Mr.Osborne was harsh, but, no, he didn’t mistreat me.”She gave Jane a curious look.“How is it you and Mr.Osborne are acquainted?”
“He was my patient.”Jane lowered her voice.“This past summer.He was quite emaciated when he was in the hospital, the poor man.”
“Your patient?”Ginger lifted a brow.Osborne was the picture of health.A bit on the thin side, perhaps, but she wouldn’t have imagined him being emaciated.“What was he in the hospital for?”
“He had been a prisoner of war after Kut—spent over a year in a POW camp and was finally released in a prisoner exchange late in the spring after the fall of Baghdad.”Jane folded her hands together.“He’s quite admirable, given what he’s been through.The poor men who were abandoned at the siege of Kut were left starving.Mr.Osborne told me that the Indian men he commanded had to break the rules of their religion and eat horse meat to survive.”
Ginger had followed the atrocities of Kut the year before.The events that had unfolded there had been horrific and absolutely humiliating for the British.She felt a twinge of guilt.She never would have imagined Osborne as having gone through such an ordeal.Because of his current position, she’d imagined him as one of the more fortunate men during the war—the ones serving behind desks.But perhaps he’d earned the current position due to his previous trials.
Whatever Osborne’s story was, Noah was right to be concerned about him.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Allowing the noise of the city to drown out his thoughts, Noah focused on the children scurrying through the streets of Cairo.They spoke in broken English to the European soldiers or residents who passed , offering services forbaksheesh.A beggar blinked numbly into the crowded street from his perch in front of a hotel.His body was swathed in rags, a stump of an arm exposed to the sun.
Noah gave the beggar money, then climbed on the arriving tram.The act of charity did little to ease his guilt.His night had been filled with fitful dreams and Harold Young had been in them.
