Author's note: It's embarrassing how long this process has dragged out. I highly recommend that writers not follow this example. It's difficult to leave something almost finished and then return to it weeks later.
How fresh and brisk was the morning air when Mrs. Macready burst open the French windows and stepped out on the terrace of Prof. Kirke's country house. What a glorious summer day it was going to be. The terrace was bordered by jasmine bushes with their fragrant white flowers. A breeze carried the smells from the thickly wooded grounds to the window. She thought how much she had missed this in the city. It wasn't just the weather or the surroundings that delighted her. She felt the excitement and anticipation of the new direction she was taking.
Mrs. Macready could have taken a leave of absence from the Bureau but that wouldn't have been fair to Gerald. He would have been left in the city. According to Ludovico there was no telling when, if ever, there would be new developments in the phenomenon he had detected in Lincolnshire. A conduit had been opened between worlds, he said, but nothing had yet gone through. It was like an opening in a wall through which you could feel the gentle stirring of cool air from the outside. There was no point taking a three-month leave to stand vigil over the conduit and have nothing happen. So she resigned. She was surprised at how easy and natural it felt. The Bureau already seemed far behind her.
As she expected, Gerald tried to contain his enthusiasm but it bubbled through. He didn't want to give the impression that he had been reluctant to move to the metropolis in the first place. She thought, he did deserve to have something kind done for him. When they had moved to London it had been necessary for him to quit the insurance firm where he had worked for thirteen years. Now he was uprooted again but this proved no prolonged difficulty. Ordinarily it would not have been easy for a man of his age to arrive in a new town and find suitable work but young men were enlisting and there were openings everywhere. It only took him a week to land the job in Stratham.
Ian had stayed in the city. He was staying in the basement of a friend's house. He had a job in an Italian restaurant and didn't want to leave, he said. Mrs. Macready suspected that what he was really thinking of was enlisting in the army. It was easier for him to just do it one day and let his parents know after the fact.
She had qualms about leaving London. It didn't seem right that she and Gerald had this opportunity and millions of others didn't. Strangely, it was the train conductor on the way down who had eased her sense of guilt. He had said, "Unless you have something to contribute to the war effort I don't see the need for you to stay. It makes you a more convenient target for the enemy. It isn't natural for a creature to stay in the sights of some hunter's gun, is it?"
Of course there was the fact that, had the Bureau discovered her involvement with Ludovico, she would be a fugitive in their view. She felt a twinge of anxiety about this but anxiety quickened her pulse and there was nothing wrong with an undercurrent of excitement. She told herself she was doing the right thing and she was willing to accept the consequences.
Mrs. Macready met Ludovico by the village inn, a renovated eighteenth-century merchant's house of timber and plaster. Mrs. Macready had almost convinced herself that Ludovico looked healthier in the country. He had a bit of a tan, as she did, from walking to and from the village. The lanes were really too narrow and dusty for driving, and Prof. Kirke did not keep horses any more. Ludovico was not wearing his overcoat but a tweed jacket, somewhat worn at the elbows.
"How are you settling in to your new career, Mrs. Macready? Rugs getting beaten on schedule?" He was beaming. The old wizard certainly smiled a good deal these days.
Mrs. Macready nodded. "The servants know their duties. Mostly, I arrange things and carry a heavy set of keys around. It helps that I do like a tidy house." To be honest, she admitted, the Professor seemed hardly to notice the housekeeping at all. She was reminded of her disapproval of the exotic bric-a-brac the Professor had brought back from his travels. Her tastes were for the plain and simple.
"Some time or other, I'm going to have to think of making a living," she remarked.
"Ah, so you don't want to make a career of housekeeping then? I've often thought that you had a natural pedagogic talent."
"Teaching? You mean maths, or Latin?"
"No, no! I mean, magic, of course."
"I don't know about joining that faculty at Gladhearts. Private lessons, though, that might be a possibility." She mused on this for a moment and then turned her attention back to the old wizard. "How is your work going?"
"Slowly but steadily. I am a baby yet, feeling my way in a new world."
"Oh, I have this to give back to you." She handed him the golden compass, the pocket Listener.
"What is the meaning of this? I explained why I gave it to you. I want to pinpoint the source of the inter-dimensional manifestation. I'm convinced that it is in that house and nowhere else."
Mrs. Macready thought of Prof. Kirke's words when she told him about Ludovico's plan. "You might not believe this but I never thought this matter was concluded with the loss of the rings. I can't imagine that my role in this is finished yet. You understand from what I told you before that I feel responsible for the White Witch being in Narnia. I must do anything I can to thwart her." He shook his head ruefully. "What you have told me gives me renewed hope. But I don't feel that it is my adventure to take. I think we should trust fate to work out the next step."
Mrs. Macready tried to explain to Ludovico. "I understand perfectly. I've been having long discussions about this with the Professor. Suppose this manifestation you've been studying has something to do with the White Witch's world. Prof. Kirke doesn't feel he should be visiting Narnia again. I don't think it's my part either. Narnia may be a magical world but it isn't my world and it isn't my magic. I don't want to know anything more specific about the source of the manifestation so that we won't be tempted to interfere. I don't want to chance upsetting things. I say that we should stand aside and let the story unfold as it should."
"I am surprised to hear this from you, Mrs. Macready, but it sounds very wise. I can trust you to stand guard in Prof. Kirke's mansion, should this manifestation produce any threat. In the meantime you must show an uncharacteristic patience. You know, I hadn't realized how peaceful the countryside is. The threat of war seems so far away."
"Not as far away as you think. I heard on the radio there are plans to evacuate children from the cities. The Professor is interested in opening his house to evacuees."
"A capital idea. I only hope that it doesn't disturb our researches. Come now, it is a fine summer day. Let us enjoy our time in the country."
