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don t know. Anyway, it was done, so one made the best of it, of course. If Agatha was to be anyone s
but mine then it had to be Johnny. I couldn t have imagined her tied up with anyone else. So I
congratulated him and we had a drink or two and that was alright.
He sipped his tea.  So off we went to Paris, and we were going to be there some months, so Johnny and
Agatha were going to tie the knot when we came home and I was to be their best man. Johnny and I
had some good times in France. Sometimes I had to remind him he was as good as married, but it was
nothing serious. He was Agatha s all through. Then she wired him that she and her mother were coming
over for a few days to buy her trousseau, which bucked Johnny up no end.
He smiled again.  Almost old times it was, the three of us going about Paris, but of course we often had
Agatha s mother in tow. That s how we ended up at the ball, really. It was at the Hungarian Embassy
and I admit they do put on a good show, but Johnny and I had been sent round all the embassies a
couple of times already. You know the game - a couple of fresh young men, might pick up an indiscreet
remark from somebody s daughter or wife, that sort of thing. All rubbish really, but that s how these
Intelligence fellows think. So we d done our bit at that game and as to Agatha, well, she d been going
to balls ever since she came out. We wanted to go to a theatre, but you couldn t get Agatha s mother
into a French theatre for love nor money, quite convinced it was all too immoral for words. She must
go to the Hungarian Ball, so we went along, and I daresay that Johnny didn t mind showing off his
lovely fiancee to the world.
 So we put on best bib and tucker and went along. It was the usual sort of thing, lots of uniforms, lots
of evening dress, lots of ball gowns, plenty of drink, a huge buffet with lots of foreign food you ve
never heard of, everybody being dreadfully friendly and chummy with everybody else, even if they d
been threatening war last week. Well, you learn to make the best of  em, Mr Holmes, all part of the job
when you re attached to an embassy, so I had a few drinks and a few dances and a poke at the buffet,
and that s where it happened.
Colonel Wilmshaw looked about him. Holmes saw the look and stepped to the sideboard, offering our
guest a brandy. When we all had a drink the old soldier resumed his tale.
 I suppose it was about halfway through the evening. I was in the buffet and Johnny came in, going to
fetch something for Agatha, I suppose. He came up alongside me and we were chatting when we both
heard this fellow standing near make an astoundingly coarse remark. It would have been wretchedly
bad form in any case - that sort of nonsense belongs to the barrack room if it has a place - but it was
worse than that. The comment was plainly about Agatha. Now, he said it in French, of course, but the
very reason Johnny and I had been attached to the embassy was because we were both dab hands at the
lingo.
The colonel sipped his brandy and shook his head.  I d heard the fellow, Johnny had heard him. I
thought,  Here s trouble! but Johnny was ice-cold. He laid down his plate and napkin and stepped up
to the fellow who d said it and tapped him on the shoulder. He swung round and I could see he was a
Russian colonel, though young for the rank. He said,  You interrupt me, Captain, in French. Johnny
said,  Colonel, you have just passed a damnably filthy observation about the lady who I intend to
marry. I require you to withdraw your vile comment and apologize. He said it loudly, in English, and
you could hear the whole room go quiet.
 The Russian smiled at Johnny, and he says - in English too -  Captain, I shall make whatever
observations I choose to my friends, without your permission. If they offend you, you know the
remedy. You are at liberty to call me out. I shall be pleased to respond. 
 But Captain Parkes could not challenge the Russian, I said.
 Certainly not, agreed the colonel,  and I was about to remind him of that, but I didn t have to. I ve
never seen Johnny so angry. He was burning with rage and as white as paper, but he had absolute
control of himself. He said,  You must know very well, Colonel, that I am not permitted by the laws of
this or my own country, or by the regulations of my service, to call you out. Were it not so, I should
welcome the opportunity of killing you. The Russian laughed aloud. He said,  It is easy to make bold
claims when you also claim the protection of the law, Captain. In Russia if we believe that we have
been dishonoured we attempt to kill the man who did it. You, it seems, do not.
 Johnny took a step forward and I grasped his arm.  You, Colonel, are a filthy-mouthed scoundrel and I
demand your apology and withdrawal. The Russian laughed again.  And you shall not have it. I have
offered you satisfaction of a kind which is, it seems, too strong for you. That is all you shall have. If the
British Army chooses not to fight, I shall certainly not surrender. Johnny said,  The British Army
exists to kill the enemies of Britain, not to play personal games, but this matter will not end here.  Oh,
I think it will, said the Russian, and he walked off with his friends, all laughing.
 I pulled Johnny back, in case he intended to follow. The whole thing had been bad enough as it was. It
was going to be the talk of all the embassies in Paris in the morning, and I wanted to make sure that
Johnny didn t suffer for it. So far he d carried himself very well, but you never know how far a fellow
can be pushed. I took him out on the balcony and got him a drink and calmed him down before he went
back to Agatha. She, of course, had heard some of it from ladies who had been in the buffet, but we
made light of it. The Russian seemed to have made himself scarce, and by the end of the evening it all
seemed to have been forgotten, except by Johnny. He was taking Agatha and her mother back to their
hotel, and I remember that, as he left me, he said,  I ll make that filthy scoundrel smart for that, you see
if I don t. 
Colonel Wilmshaw paused and stared into the past he had awakened.  That was the last thing old
Johnny ever said to me, you know. I never saw him again. He didn t come back to our digs that night.
Well, I didn t worry much about that. I admit I thought he might have found a way of slipping past
Agatha s mother and be enjoying himself at their hotel, but when he didn t show up the next day I got [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]