“Then it’s something we haven’t thought of,” the Earl said heavily. “But in heaven’s name, what?”
“I can’t begin to imagine,” replied the Colonel.
Devenish groaned. Venetia seated herself on his bed and gently mopped his brow. He was still talking, but his voice had dropped to a mutter.
“Look, Colonel, we can’t wait any longer,” the Earl said. “We have to go back to that camp and find what else there is to learn.”
“But how?” the Colonel demanded. “I have nobody else here who can speak Russian. That was Devenish’s special value to us.”
“Nobody else?” the Earl echoed, aghast.
“Some of the lads have picked up a smattering, but we’ve nobody who speaks it fluently like him. There was one other man but he was killed and I’m still waiting for a replacement. You might tell Her Majesty that,
