"Care to join me for some tea, Alexander? I have a delightful white tea I think you would enjoy."
"That sounds splendid, Gabhail. When will you be flying back to New Delhi?"
"Unless something pressing comes up between now and then, I believe I will head back on Tuesday morning. I'm getting too old to jump off a plane in the morning and jump back on again that afternoon."
"I understand that feeling all too well, old friend. How is your charming daughter, Lavanya?"
"Keeping me in line. I don't know what I would have done without her after my dear Zoya passed so suddenly. You are a fortunate man to still have your Millicent by your side."
"I am a very fortunate man, Gabhail. Speaking of which, Millicent and I would like to extend an invitation to meet us in Switzerland come summer, if circumstances allow."
"That would be most enjoyable. Seeing one another at these summits is too much business and too little pleasure."
"A necessary evil, I fear. Though I was under the impression that you were wanting to talk business over tea."
"Too true, my friend. As you say, a necessary evil. I recently had an agent placed in a bad situation. I am still not sure I approve of how he handled it, but I cannot say I would not have handled it the same way."
"You have my attention. Please elucidate."
"One of my men has a bit of a reputation like your Mister Solo."
"A ladies' man."
"Precisely. Recently, THRUSH had him boxed into a position where he could only positively save one person - his partner or a young lady who was, to the best of his knowledge at the time, an innocent."
"And his choice?"
"He saved his partner."
"And at least part of you feels that his choice should have been the innocent."
"Admittedly so, Alexander."
"This requires some deep thought and, for me, deep thought requires a pipe. Do you mind?"
"Please feel free."
"I noticed your phrasing - to the best of his knowledge. Does that mean that the lady in question turned out to be less than innocent?"
"Your assumption is correct. It turned out that she was in league with THRUSH."
"Then for the sake of your agent and your working relationship with him, I would presume that his instincts picked up some subliminal message about her true intentions and guided his decision."
"Hm. That is very good advice. Thank you. Might I ask a hypothetical question?"
"How would I deal with it had it been Mister Solo?"
"Precisely."
"I must admit that I hope that situation does not arise for him. It is one thing for a man to put an innocent's life above his own. It is quite another to sacrifice someone else's life."
"Even if that man would also have sacrificed himself?"
"Even so. After all, even though I know my Millicent would step between any of our children and harm, that is quite different from me shoving her between the two."
"Ah. Yes, I see what you mean."
"In the end, it all comes down to the fact that we must trust our agents to act to the best of their abilities in the field and then, once the dust has settled, we must pick up the pieces, determine if more training might have led to a more agreeable outcome, then act accordingly. We must acknowledge that we cannot prepare for everything, Gabhail. In our younger days, we both had to act on instinct in the moment. Time to look back is all well and good, but of no practical use to those whose moment of decision has come and gone."
"Thank you, Alexander."
"Is your mind more at ease now?"
"It is. More tea?"
"Please."