Only once where Ive had direct contact, sir. Four other occasions through you.
Yes, Ferguson said. A truly brilliant linguist. No good where the rough stuff is concerned, either physical or anything else. A genuine moralist, our Gabrielle. What family has she got living now?
Father in Marseilles. Her mother, sir, and step-father. Hes English. They live in the Isle of Wight. She has a half-brother, Richard, aged twenty-two, serving as a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy.
Ferguson lit a cigar and sat behind the desk. Ive met women, Harry, and so have you, of beauty and considerable distinction, but Gabrielle is something special. For a woman like that, only a special man will do.
I think were fresh out of those this year, sir, Fox said.
We usually are, Harry. We usually are. Now lets go through the Foreign Office tray. Ferguson put on his half-moon spectacles.