'No! I dont know if I said the word aloud or just formed the shape of it. I stepped back abrupt, sending the chair behind me toppling to the floor.

Della moved closer. She wasnt exactly beautiful, but she was striking, in a hard and angular way. 'Where is he? Wheres my boy? Her voice was low and husky. The Scots accent gave it an edge, but now it was undeniably female. Even in his sleep Robbie must have recognised his mother. Little mewing noises came from the box behind my desk as he struggled to wake himself.

Dellas eyes widened. She darted around the desk and froze for a moment as she stared down at the trunk.

'Oh, thank God! She brought a hand to her mouth and gulped down a shuddering lungful of air, before swooping to gather Robbie up into her arms. The blanket fell to the floor as she stood there with her back to me rocking from side to side, cradling his head against her neck. I watched her shoulders rise and fall as her fingers caressed the back of his downy head.

Then she loosened his white cotton gown and gently probed his skin. I knew what she was looking for. Dellas back stiffened.

'Whats this? She didnt turn to show me, but I was certain shed found the nick on his hand and the bruising.

'He . . . he had a little accident, thats all. We called a doctor out. Its healing. The doctor says hell be fine. Without thinking, I rattled off the explanation Id prepared for David. A part of me couldnt take in the fact it wasnt him standing there.

She didnt say anything for a moment and then I heard her whisper, 'Thank God, thank God. She nuzzled against Robbies cheek. 'Ill never leave you again, never. I promise. Never again, my little prince.

Although she spoke softly, the words were shot with a violent passion and I knew she was swearing an oath to him. Della brushed her lips over the top of his head and breathed deeply as if she was inhaling him, body and soul.

And then she began to sob.

The sound was muffled as she buried her face in his gown, but to my ears it was halfway between joy and a sort of despair. Robbie tightened his fat little fingers around the trailing ends of the veil hanging off her hat and he crooned with pleasure.

Of an instant the office disappeared. The world contracted to a point that was Della and Robbie Lennox, mother and son bound together so tight they were one person. It was as if I wasnt there. And it came to me then that love was a very different thing to the fancy glittering bauble Id been rolling around in my head for the last few days.

There was a day, long ago, when Nanny Peck had taken me and Joey to see a circus set out on London Fields. I remember the tiger most particular. Beautiful he was, with his paint-sharp stripes and his great golden eyes. But he was terrifying too. As we watched him through the bars of the cage, his musky animal scent filled my nose and I could sense a power rolling off him. I remember how it made the hairs on my arms prickle.

I felt something like that now. Real love is a beast that cant be tamed or controlled. Its raw and fierce and savage, and it gives off a heat like a furnace so you can actually feel it on your skin.

Great waves of love were coming off Della and her boy. As I just stood there watching them, I found myself wondering how she felt that day at the Gare du Nord when she handed Robbie over to me. She must have been tearing herself in two inside at the thought of being parted from him, at passing him like a package to a virtual stranger, but she went through it without giving the game away.

Della Lennox was the best actress Ive ever seen and the bravest.

All the same, I was furious with her Joey too.

I curled my fingers round the edge of the desk and cleared my throat.

'Wheres Joey? He said youd both come for him. My voice sounded like chalk on a blackboard. I wanted to scream at her, swear at her, call her a hundred names not fit for a woman to hear or use come to that but I tried to swallow it down. I gripped that desk so hard I could feel my nails gouge into the wood. Two of us could put on an act.

Della looked up. She huddled Robbie close, just as Peggy had always done, and kissed his head again.

'Hes not here?

I shook my head, but didnt say anything. Something was roaring in my mind and I didnt want to let it out.

Della blinked slowly. 'Then Im sorry, Kitty, I dont know. He was supposed to meet me earlier this evening, but he didnt come. Its why I left it so late before . . . She broke off and allowed Robbie to bat her cheek. She closed her eyes and revelled in the pleasure of that touch. It was a moment before she even remembered I was there.

'He met me at Victoria Station this morning and gave me the travel bills. It was all planned. We didnt come over together because it was safer and besides there was someone in Paris I had to find. Ive been searching for him for so long. Its why I had to send my boy on without me. She smiled and kissed Robbies head again. 'You know where were going, the plan?

'You . . . youre leaving tomorrow for Hamburg, all three of you. My voice came brittle as fine bone china.

'Yes. Then Josette will go back to Paris and Robbie and I will sail to New York. But well need papers. Well be travelling under new names. Your brother knows someone here in London who can help us.

Della half sat on the edge of the desk, one arm folded around Robbie, the other lightly stroking his head.

'He left me at the station to collect the documents. He wouldnt let me come with him. Instead we arranged to meet again in the ladies waiting room at five. Ive been there all day I cant remember how many cups of piss poor tea Ive drunk, Kitty, how many polite conversations Ive had about the weather, when all I could think about was my bairn.

She shook her head. 'When he didnt come back for me- 'You came on here to The Gaudy alone?

Della nodded. 'I didnt know what else to do. Joey is . . . She glanced at me. 'Its seems odd to call him that. Your brother is my friend and without him I dont know what I would have done, but he has secrets. She shook her head. 'God knows, we all have enough of those, but Jose . . . Joeys secrets frighten him. The message you gave him that night, something about Bartholomew?

I nodded. 'It was from our grandmother Bartholomew waits. Did he tell you what it meant?

'No. I asked after youd gone. He wouldnt say anything. Besides there was so much else to arrange it didnt seem important. But this morning when we met at the station, he couldnt settle. We didnt speak for more than ten minutes and all the time he was in a fret watching the door. His hands were shaking, even though he tried to hide it. Your brother is usually very good at . . . deception, Kitty, you must know that?

I folded my arms. 'Youre not so bad at it yourself, David.

I let that hang there for a moment and was gratified to see her look down.

'You used me. Both of you!

I couldnt help myself. Now Id started, the words came spitting out like sparks off a Catherine Wheel.

'You played the gentleman with me, Della Lennox, stroking my hands, speaking soft, running your eyes over me, making me feel . . . making me think that you might . . . I stopped, gripped the edge of the desk and carried on. 'Making me think that you might be a man, when all along you were playing me like a trout in a stream. And it was a dangerous game you got me into, wasnt it?

She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off sharp.

'No! Theres nothing you can say to make it right, so dont try. People have died here for the sake of your child: a little one pierced through the heart with a shard of glass, another crushed under a cart, the mother maimed for the rest of her life which wont be long and a good man . . . I swallowed, '. . . a good friend torn apart in his lodgings.

Della clutched Robbie tight to her side and unpinned her hat. She laid it on the edge of the desk, but the weight of the trailing veil made it slip to the boards. Her hair was cropped close to her head. Pearl earrings trembled from her ears. The lamplight made them glow like tiny moons against her skin. She shifted Robbies weight and reached out to try to catch my hand.

'Im sorry, so sorry. I didnt think we didnt think. Truly, Kitty, I never meant for you or anyone here in London to be in danger. We thought wed covered our tracks. We thought it was safe.

'Well, you thought wrong. I drew back. I was shaking with fury now, but the worst of it was that I was angry with myself. I couldnt tell whether I was blaming her for putting us all at risk, or most shameful to admit for not being David.

I forced a pin deep into the roll of hair at my neck and almost welcomed the sharp prick of pain as it nicked the skin.

'Anyway, its too late for sorry. I reckon its time for some answers. I leaned forward, flattened my hands on the desk and nodded at Robbie who was playing contentedly with a button on her travel coat. 'Like whos his father?

Dellas eyes slid from mine. She folded her arms around Robbie again and began to rock him gently. 'Your brother and all his friends tried so hard to help us. The halls in Glasgow, Paris, London theyre not so different. Theyre full of outsiders, but that makes the bonds strong. Were a family. I dont know what we would have done without Joey. They would have killed Robbie by now.

'They being the Russian royal family the Romanovs?

Della nodded, but didnt look up. When she answered it came as a whisper. 'Sergei, thats his fathers name. And I was a fool to imagine that we could ever be together. They would never stand for it.

She looked up now and I caught a flicker of guilt in her eyes. 'I know about Ilya, Kitty. Joey warned me about him this morning at the station. He blames himself, but he shouldnt.

Della shifted about so she could hold Robbie in the crook of one arm as she placed her free hand over mine. My skin didnt fire up when she touched me now.

'Listen, you must know this, I didnt entirely lie to you. I am a singer and the night we met Id come straight from The Chapeau Rouge where I perform en travesti as a man. It was Joeys idea that I should meet you like that. He said it would be more . . . persuasive.

'He said that, did he? Oh I was persuaded all right. And you knew it, didnt you?

Those sea-green eyes slipped away again.

'I . . . I didnt want to deceive you, but I knew Joey was right. Im a woman too, after all. When a man begs a woman for help its . . . She trailed off.

'Seductive? Is that what youre trying to say? You deliberately tried to seduce me that night!

'No- I pulled my hand out from under hers and stared at her. If she didnt have Robbie huddled close I might well have gone for her.

'All right, yes, a little. Im sorry, but it was for the sake of my bairn. They want to kill him, Kitty. Youd do the same for your own. Tell me you wouldnt?

The question swung in the air.

I turned from her, righted the chair and sat down heavily. 'Go on then. If youre in a mood to confess, you might as well carry on.

Della stared up at the ceiling. Just above her head the stain of Fitzys cigar smoke spread across the plaster. She was quiet for a moment, but then she began to speak slowly and quietly.

'The winter before last Sergei came to see me perform at The Chapeau. Its the fashion for the Russian nobility to visit Paris and when they come they are great patrons of the arts. They and their women are seen at the ballet and the opera. But the men also like to muddy their boots. Sergei came to The Chapeau night after night. I didnt know who he was. He was just another man and there were plenty of them at my door, the costume excites them. At first I wasnt interested, but he was clever, gentle and kind not like the others. And he was handsome too. But there was something else he was, he is . . . fragile. I wanted to protect him, can you understand that, Kitty?

I was silent, but it didnt matter. Della carried on, swept along by her own story.

'We became . . . close. Then . . . then I found I was to have a child his child. And when Robbie was born Sergei tried to protect us, but his family . . . She looked across at me and shook her head. She made a handsome woman, Ill give her that, but there were hollows in her high dark cheeks and shadows beneath her eyes.

'You have no idea how ruthless people can be. His family will stop at nothing to make certain that Robbie does not exist. He was never supposed to happen, Sergei was never supposed to father a child. She hugged the baby and rocked him back and forth.

'But he did, and no one can tell me that it was wrong.

I stared at the bundle folded in her arms and the thought came to me of how much that child was loved. Peggy and Danny would have taken him for themselves, Lucca had painted him a cradle and even Lok had proved a better temporary mother than me. Whatever Della had done, little Robbie was an innocent in all of this. He deserved a life, or as much of one as he could manage.

We both started at a harsh rattle. It sounded as if someone was throwing stones at the narrow office window. Della slipped from the desk and bent to take up her hat.

'Id forgotten the rain here in London, how it never stops. We have to go. The boat leaves on the tide at six. I have to be on board at least an hour before. She glanced down at the trunk and bit her lip. 'Without Joey here I dont know how I can carry him.

I reached for the chain at my neck and felt for the ring and the Christopher. They were warm to the touch. I rolled them between my fingers.

'Did Joey tell you where he was going, Della, who he was seeing?

She shook her head. 'He said it was better if I didnt know.

I rolled my eyes. 'That sounds like him. What about the travel papers? Youll need them.

'I have this . . . She hefted Robbie onto her hip and pulled a small tapestry purse from the folds of her coat. She loosened the drawstring at the neck and delved inside to take out one of the emeralds.

'Sergei gave them to me before Christmas when I last saw him. He told me they were our insurance and he begged me to leave Paris, but I couldnt, not then, for Robbies sake. I sewed the stones into the poppet. It was the only place I could think of where no one would look.

'And I was right. Just after you left with Robbie my room was torn apart. It was an act of vengeance. Wed been there less than a week we had to keep moving. They knew Robbie had gone and they wanted to punish me. If I hadnt sent the emeralds ahead with him and the . . . Della took a deep breath. 'Thats the past. We have a future to think about. Joey gave me this stone at the station this morning. He kept the smallest to pay for our papers and he told me you have the third?

'Its here.

I reached for the emerald sitting near the lamp on the desks leather worktop and dropped it into her open palm. The two stones, one slightly larger than the other, chinked together and glinted in the light.

'Wherever we go next, it wont matter who we are if we can pay our way.

There was a truth in that I couldnt argue with. As Della pushed the stones back into the pouch and slipped it into her coat Robbie stirred and made a soft sucking noise. He had fallen asleep.

'Is the poppet in the trunk with the rest of his things, Kitty? I glanced up at something in her voice as she continued. 'He loves it so he cant be parted from it. I told you that at the station, remember?

I pulled the drawer open and handed her the cloth toy held together now with quick crude stitches. It wasnt my finest work.

'Here. Its been in the wars. Ive sewn it up again, but youll have to do a neater job yourself when you have the chance.

Della snatched it from me and dropped it into the trunk on top of the blankets. I thought about the strip of paper in my pocket and some devil in me told me to keep quiet, for a while anyway. We can all play tricks, Della Lennox, I thought.

Robbie made a cooing sound and his perfect curved lips puckered for an invisible bottle.

She smiled and nestled him closer. 'When he wakes Ill feed him, Kitty. Hes always greedy.

'Theres some pap in a bottle here. Peggy . . . and me, weve been giving him that. I stood and went to the trunk, but Della caught my arm. 'He wont be needing pap any more.

Of course not. Stupid of me. She was his mother. I bent to take the bottle from the trunk and the Christopher slipped out from beneath my collar, dangling over the blankets.

'Does Joey know the boat youre taking tomorrow?

'He arranged it. Its called the Albertine. It leaves from Steam Boat Dock near West India Dock. Its a regular timber carrier.

'And he knows it leaves at six?

Della nodded. 'Do you think hell meet us there, Kitty?

I hoped so. In the meantime, she and little Robbie needed help. I put the pap bottle on the desk and went to the door to take my coat.

'Ill come with you. You cant manage alone.

There didnt seem to be much sense in waiting around at The Gaudy for Joey. If we could find a hack at this time wed take one down to West India. Id get Amit to come with us. As I pulled the coat from the hook a thought struck me. I whipped round.

'Della, when you came in here ten minutes ago, was there a man outside?

She shook her head. 'I didnt see anyone except the girl who let me in at the front. She was emptying a bucket into the gutter. I asked for you and she took me back through the lobby into the hall and showed me your office.

Edie hadnt gone home when I told her to, then? She was a good girl, but I wished shed done as I said. There was a reason Id locked the front. Something prickled at the back of my neck.

I opened the office door.

'Amit?