Or he tried to: Woolvey's shocked expression lingered. The hard use, the necessary brutality of the service, were not of the same world as his England, as home; and it was that division which allowed a man the chance to be a gentleman and a practical soldier both. But now he was home, and in the stables of Kensington Palace with his palms wet with blood, on a spy's errand. Yet it was as necessary as any military action. But let it only take place in Paris, or Istanbul, or China, and let Woolvey read of it in the papers and applaud; for it did not belong here, a black rotten canker taken root in the stable attic, above the peaceful gardens.

They scavenged the four uniforms not overly stained with blood, and Laurence threw a stable-blanket over the men now stripped and bound again, against the chill. The coat, warm from a dead man's body, sat uneasily on his shoulders as he climbed down the ladder and handed the last coat to Woolvey.

‘We will bind you also,’ Laurence said to the boy, ‘unless you will come with us, to the rescue and to the dragon?’ but the boy shook his head vigorously, and preferred to be bound.

‘Perhaps half an hour now,’ Tharkay said, meaning how long it might be for, before their discovery: Laurence himself thought it likelier to be a quarter.

‘We go in quickly, then,’ he said. ‘No running, but move with purpose: do you know where he is, Janus?’

‘Well, sir,’ Janus said, shrugging awkwardly inside his makeshift uniform, and looking a poorer match for it than Tharkay, ‘the maids will sometimes take a fellow up to the better rooms, and I don't mean to say I haven't had an invitation or two; but which will be his room, I am sure I don't know.’

‘There will be no difficulty there,’ Laurence said. ‘It will be the only door that is guarded.’

He went first, with Woolvey beside him. A quick glance would at their faces and perhaps most would miss the others. Tharkay held a handkerchief to his face, as if to catch a sneeze, for some more concealment. They climbed the back staircase, and at Janus's whisper turned off the landing into the hallway.

Some eight or nine men stood talking in the hall near one of the rooms to the rear of the house. Undoubtedly there would be more guards within. Laurence did not pause, but kept walking steadily towards them. The men were not wary at their posts but lounging freely. Some sat on the floor, engrossed in a game of cards, as others crouched to observe their play Only a few men were standing. A maid came down the hall loaded down with washing, and as she began to pick her way through the knot of soldiers, had a moment's awkward struggle to win past one over-enthusiastic sergeant, who caught at her waist.