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Evy sighed and slammed shut the book she'd been staring uncomprehendingly at for the past half hour. Rick glanced up from his place in the armchair near her desk and raised an eyebrow.
"Somebody get an important date wrong again?" He asked, closing his own book. It wasn't all that good—Jonathan had recommended it, which should've been warning enough—so he didn't mind the interruption.
"No." Evy sighed again and turned to look at him. He could see now that her hands fidgeted nervously in her lap. "I just can't stop thinking about Jonathan."
"Oh."
Jonathan. The subject of most of their private conversations these days. How often he was out, how late he was in, how drained both his vault and his appetite were.
"I should write to Fadia," Evy said.
Rick made a face. "I don't know, Evy."
"I am telling you, Rick, it's the only way. I fear that those two fools won't say a thing of importance to each other unless they're pushed into it." She turned the chair around to fully face him. "And Fadia and I can push them."
"I just don't know if pushing them is the best idea. I mean, what if it makes them...run away faster?" He recalled how defensive Jonathan had gotten the Christmas after Polly, even with coded questions.
"Well, they can't run away from what they don't know is happening. Fadia and I will just have to keep it a secret from them until we have a fool-proof plan."
Rick huffed a laugh. "It might be fool-proof, but will it be Jonathan-proof?"
"Of course," Evy said confidently. "I don't care if Fadia and I have to-to, well, move the mountain to Muhammad, as it were."
"I don't think you're using that phrase right."
"Oh tosh, you know what I mean." She waved him off and turned back to her desk, grabbing a blank sheet of paper. "Between the two of us, if she's amenable—and I'm positive she is—we should be able to get our lovable yet idiotic brothers to Cairo and conveniently lock them in a room together." She squinted. "Preferably a small one."
Rick couldn't help but grin at the look of determination on her face. "Still," he said, "I think they'd bust out before they actually said anything."
Evy brandished her pen like a weapon. "We'll see about that!"
+++
Fadia was surprised to receive a letter, and even more surprised to see that it was from Evelyn O'Connell. Her thoughts instantly shifted to the coded conversation she'd had with the Englishwoman in Cairo months ago, and her eyes widened.
Could this be a continuation? She hoped so.
Without further hesitation, she tore open the letter and devoured it.
April 1931
Fadia,
I hope that I am not overstepping my bounds in any way, but considering our last conversation, I feel confident that you will take no issue with what I'm about to say. I have reason to suspect that something is going on between our brothers—or rather, that something could be going on, but they have yet to actually take action.
Nevertheless, there is some uncertainty (however slight). For instance, Jonathan has never explicitly stated that he has feelings for your brother, but Jonathan is not, shall we say, the most communicative on such subjects. Perhaps this letter is out of line, but I do have eyes, you know (and even Rick has noticed).
All evidence points to Jonathan being madly in love, and I just can't stand to see him wandering about unrequited any longer. In the time spent with your brother, I have noticed how Jonathan looks at him (or doesn't look at him, which is equally as important).
I have watched Ardeth, too, but I have not spent my whole life with him as you have, so he is more difficult to read, although I do have my suspicions, which I must admit are quite cemented. Still, I would appreciate a more educated opinion.
Which leads me to my point: I wish to know for certain what feelings your brother may have for mine, romantic or otherwise, so that perhaps between you and I, we can get them sorted.
Your friend and co-conspirator,
Evelyn O'Connell
PS—Rick says this is a bad idea, but I have elected to ignore him.
Fadia grinned as she finished the letter, and felt as if a large weight had been lifted off her chest.
At last, she could help her brother.
Sure, she'd been sort of sworn to secrecy, but at the same time...well, she'd only told Ardeth she wouldn't talk to Evelyn, she'd never said anything about not writing to her. Besides, Evelyn was plainly asking her, outright. She had to answer, or it wouldn't be polite. Right?
Her grin widened, turning devious.
She had to be polite, people were always telling her so.
And to find out that Jonathan had feelings for Ardeth after all! What a relief! She didn't even mind—and hardly paid heed—to the fact that Evy had said she only had suspicions. A sister's suspicions, especially a sister like Evy or Fadia, were more than enough to build a case on.
Still, she decided not to tell Ardeth what she'd learned, at least not yet, because he would surely just become cross at such communication between her and Evy, swear her to secrecy again, and possibly make her sign a contract or something.
Despite disliking writing letters, especially in English, Fadia sat down and penned a rapid reply.
+++
May 1931
Evelyn,
You have no idea how overjoyed I was when I read your letter. My poor dear brother has been moping for years and is entirely too cautious, and even shy, to do anything about it.
Oh, the speeches I've endured about not 'upsetting' his friendship with Jonathan by saying something. Dreadful.
Anyway, I can state with complete confidence that my brother is hopelessly in love with yours. I accidentally brought it all out in the open, because of course he was trying to keep it a secret. Men, I tell you.
It is a great weight off my shoulders to learn that there is a chance your brother feels the same. I have often wondered. Of course, no matter how I urged, Ardeth would never ask him.
I, of course, was mostly sworn to secrecy, but considering how long these two have avoided happiness with each other, I think that breaking my promise at this time is understandable. Even commendable. It is for the greater good, after all. This leaves us with the task of bringing them together and actually making them talk to each other. Obviously, we should do this without giving either of them any warning about it, otherwise they'll escape somehow. Any ideas?
Your friend and willing co-conspirator,
Fadia Bay
PS, tell your husband this is the only way
"See, Rick? She says it's the only way." Evy grinned triumphantly after reading the letter aloud. "Isn't that what I told you?"
Rick felt seriously outnumbered, even if it was only by one. Fadia's and Evy's determination equalled to about ten people, not two. He sighed. "I guess you're right."
"Of course I am, darling," Evy said, smiling and pecking him on the cheek. "She also knows we shouldn't tell them anything." She hesitated and gave him an odd look. "I can count on you to not...warn Jonathan, can't I?"
Rick sighed, again. "Yeah."
Despite his mixed feelings on this... project...mission...thing, he wasn't about to directly go against Evy's wishes—unless it was to divert something really awful from happening, like for instance, an apocalypse. But for right now, Evy and Fadia were just talking. Right now, Jonathan wasn't being locked in a 'preferably small' room with Ardeth, and even if that was happening, it probably wouldn't end the world, so everything was fine.
Hell, he even hoped that something good might come out of this subterfuge after all.