The Blood Diamond Read Free Page B

Mrs. Mannering?’
    â€˜Yes.’ It didn’t matter how he’d guessed, he was a gift from the gods. ‘Will you—’
    â€˜I have just seen Mr. Mannering,’ said the beggar.
    The door of Quinn’s opened, and Mannering came out. No one else was in Hart Row, so the contrast between the two men was heightened. The beggar, slow moving, gentle voiced, dressed in little more than rags, short, unkempt; Mannering, brisk, tall, lean and lithe, dressed by the artists of Savile Row, with all the assurance of wealth and well-being in his manner He looked exactly as he did in the portrait at home.
    They were both perfect models.
    Mannering’s smile widened.
    â€˜Hallo, my sweet. You two don’t know each other, do you?’
    â€˜I haven’t that pleasure,’ Larraby said.
    â€˜Mr. Larraby – my wife.’ Mannering’s eyes said: ‘Now what imp of the devil’s in your mind, darling?’
    Larraby murmured: ‘How are you, Mrs. Mannering?’
    â€˜I’m feeling wonderful! I’ve been looking for you for weeks – can you sit for me, Mr. Larraby?’
    Mannering said: ‘What’s this?’
    â€˜It’s less a case of whether I can but whether I may, Mrs. Mannering. Isn’t it, sir?’ Larraby looked at Mannering wistfully but amused, and not really hopeful.
    Mannering was studying Lorna’s plucked eyebrows.
    â€˜I don’t see why not,’ he said, after a long pause.
    â€˜Darling,’ said Lorna, ‘Mr. Larraby will sit for me, you know, not for you.’
    â€˜Oh, yes.’ Mannering chuckled. ‘I still don’t see why not. But not today, my sweet, no matter how your fingers are itching, we’ve several things to do. Tomorrow morning, if you like.’
    â€˜That’ll do. The light’s no good now.’
    â€˜11b Green Street, Chelsea,’ Lorna said to Larraby. ‘It’s a turning between King’s Road and the river – the Embankment.’
    â€˜I am well acquainted with the Embankment, Mrs Mannering,’ said Larraby, dryly, ‘and I’ll be there any time you like.’
    â€˜Nine o’clock? You will come?’
    â€˜Nothing would keep me away,’ said Larraby. ‘And I may even live to repay you both. Good day.’
    He turned, and walked off.
    â€˜Repay?’ Lorna looked blank.
    Mannering laughed. ‘Did I ever tell you that you’re beautiful, my sweet, while a policeman looked on?’
    The constable was in the doorway of the next shop to Quinn’s.
    â€˜No. Have I ever—’ Lorna broke off, looking at the diamond for the first time.
    â€˜Nice little thing, isn’t it?’ Mannering asked.
    â€˜Darling, are you crazy? To put a thing like that in the window is—’
    â€˜I know. Asking for trouble. Don’t forget that window’s so strong you’d need dynamite or a pneumatic drill to break it. Talking of Larraby—’
    â€˜We weren’t.’
    â€˜We are. Before you start to dab him on canvas there are things you should know. I’ll be in for dinner. Seven-ish.’
    He kissed her.
    But when he’d left, she wondered why he had hedged from the subject of the diamond in the window.
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Chapter Three
THE POLICEMAN AND THE REPORT
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    Superintendent William Bristow, of New Scotland Yard, sat in his large airy office and read the reports on his desk. The desk, like Bristow, was very neat and tidy. So was the room. So was the other desk, in the corner by the window, which was normally occupied by the Inspector who looked after Bristow’s routine work when the Superintendent was not in the office. A wall-clock ticked on a hushed note. Footsteps sounded clearly on the stone floor of the passage outside the office. Sounds of traffic came from Whitehall, the Embankment and the river, but none of these things disturbed Bristow.
    He came upon a manila-coloured slip, a report from