Reilly Says “Hello” And “Goodbye”

It was the night after the Holmes-Lloyd George-Reilly-Siegel incident, that Reilly knocked on my door for the third time.

It had been two years or so since last I saw him and he had much to tell; and, I surmised, much not to tell. But what he chose to tell was, he believed, that which would set my mind at rest.

He told me that Holmes had indeed perished; not by the perfidious hand of his own government, but as a true hero of England. His ship, had, in fact, been sunk by the Germans. Reilly felt that this would give me surcease, which it did, and I thanked him for the information; at that time not knowing the true volume of this most magnanimous deception.

After that, he told me of the tragic events on Eleuthera, of the health and beauty of little Sidney, but not of the whereabouts of the Grand Duchesses. I was to learn of their subsequent histories only much later; but which I have already put forth for more facile chronology.

Finally, it was time for Reilly to depart once more. And this time, we both thought we would never see each other again.

How tragically wrong we were.