Excerpt: Eloquence

After what seemed an incredibly long while, Elaine spoke.
‘Dr. Husher?’
He looked up, slightly startled, and accidentally dropped his pen so that it rolled off the desk and hit the floor. ‘Yes, My Lady?’
‘Do you know ...’ she hesitated, sniffling slightly and twisting her hands together in her lap, ‘do you happen to know any detectives? Private ones?’
Lawrence paused. He took off his spectacles and laid them on top of the documents he had been going through before crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back a little in his chair. He looked at Elaine calmly.
‘Well, yes. Yes, I do know one. But I don’t know how much help he will be. He’s clever, but he doesn’t really have –’
Whatever it was that the detective didn’t have, Elaine didn’t care. She didn’t let him finish. She said, ‘Contact him.’
Lawrence blinked. ‘Now, My Lady?’
She nodded eagerly. ‘Yes. Now.’
Inhaling slowly and deeply, he picked up the telephone to his left and took a small book out of his breast pocket, thumbing through it. He dialled the number on the page and waited.
Across the room amidst the silence Elaine could hear the phone ringing. It rang nine times before a recorded message could be heard on the other end.
Lawrence titled the receiver away from his face so he could see Elaine. ‘He’s not home. Should I leave a message?’
To his surprise, she shook her head. Lawrence hung up the phone.
‘You know where he lives, then?’ she asked.
He nodded.
‘What’s his name?’
‘Christian Rheese, My Lady.’
‘Christian.’ She nodded slowly as she said it, her eyes travelling around the room before settling on Lawrence’s face again. ‘I want you to call in at his house,’ she told him. ‘If he isn’t there, wait. Tell him that his services have been requested by the Crown Princess and he is to pack immediately and come to stay in the palace by no later than Tuesday morning.’
‘Ah.’ Lawrence stood up, nearly tripping over his chair, and straightened his tie. ‘Right. I mean, yes, of course, My Lady. I’ll go at once.’
He expected to her to stand and wait for him to open the door, but she didn’t. She stayed where she was, and so he mumbled, rubbing his jaw, ‘Yes. I’ll go now.’ He took his jacket off the hook by the bookcase and pulled it on, opened the door and went out. He came back in, bowed to the princess, and left again.