There was a stunned silence.
‘Pardon me,’ said Commander Hay, recovering the power of speech. ‘I wish to be perfectly sure I understand you. Miss Farnborough and a . . . close friend . . . embarked upon an illegal enterprise for romantic purposes . . .’
‘I’m not sure Imogen can have been aware of the true purpose of the jump. Not initially. From things she has let drop recently, I don’t think she regarded this person as anything other than a friend who was offering an exciting opportunity to do something new and different. Imogen does not deal well with long periods of boredom.’ She considered for a moment before adding, ‘Or short ones, either.’
‘So, your daughter had no idea a marriage proposal was in the offing?’
‘As far as I am aware – no.’
‘And the young man . . . I am assuming it was a young man?’
Somewhat stiffly, Mrs Farnborough agreed that yes, the party in question was a young man.
‘Only in these days . . .’
‘I can confirm the person in question was definitely a young man.’
‘This young man goes down on one knee – so to speak – and Imogen not only rejects the proposal, but the young man as well.’
‘That would appear to be the case, yes.’
‘Forgive me, but where exactly did this take place? Were there other people present? Did no one try to prevent her from leaving? Was the young man in question quite happy to just return to the present and leave your daughter there?’
‘To take your questions in order, I believe Imogen and her friend had stepped outside to savour their surroundings, and when he returned to the pod to tell his tale, the people . . . the crew . . . simply packed up and brought him home.’
‘Packed up?’
‘From what I can gather, the . . . company . . . offers a number of what they call “packages”, including the “Special Occasion” experience. It’s extremely expensive – something Imogen’s friend mentioned several times – and consists of an exclusive, specifically tailored excursion including costumes, catering, champagne and such, all of which had been brought with them and set up, but was, of course, not needed.’
‘And they just packed up and left her there? Did the young man offer any sort of protest?’
‘I do not believe that at that point he was inclined to consider Imogen’s future welfare to be one of his priorities.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘The consensus seemed to be Imogen had made her bed and must lie on it. The company offers no sort of guarantee or accepts liability of any kind. It is clearly understood that everything is at the customer’s own risk.’
‘And having returned to this Time, this unfortunate young man came straight to you.’
Mrs Farnborough gritted her teeth. ‘Actually, no. His feelings were, apparently, somewhat bruised, and his initial reaction was that she could bloody well stay in the 17th century and good riddance.’
Commander Hay, who had been in charge of the Time Police for some years now, found herself temporarily with nothing to say.
‘However,’ Mrs Farnborough continued, ‘after several days elapsed, he appeared to relent and passed me a message detailing Imogen’s recent . . . exploits.’
‘And where is this young man now?’
Mrs Farnborough’s expression was professionally blank. ‘I am not aware of his current location.’
Commander Hay filed away that particular line of enquiry for future action. ‘And Miss Farnborough is still, to the best of your knowledge, in 17th-century England.’
‘Yes. London, to be precise. And has been for some days now.’
‘Well, to put your mind at rest – that is not necessarily the case. We can jump back to these coordinates . . .’ Hay gestured to the piece of paper still lying between them, ‘and it is very possible we will be on the scene only an hour or so behind Imogen. Which might easily be long enough for her to have decided the 17th century is not a particularly safe place in which to reside. With luck, she won’t have been there long enough to have incurred any serious injury. I suspect that with no training, no background knowledge and very little preparation for surviving in this period, she will almost certainly welcome the opportunity to be taken home. From our point of view, setting aside – temporarily – her illegal actions, she should certainly be removed as quickly as possible before any permanent damage occurs. Either to her or, more importantly, to the timeline. Which, I must inform you, Mrs Farnborough, will be our first priority.’
Mrs Farnborough lifted her head. ‘I know I am in no position to ask a favour . . .’
‘But you are about to nevertheless.’
‘I ask – no, I plead – for leniency. There have been faults in Imogen’s upbringing which should not be laid at her door.’
‘That will be a matter for discussion on Imogen’s return,’ said Commander Hay, drily. ‘And I must inform you I am unable to influence the courts. Those powers are denied me. Any recommendations I make will be taken into account, but the ultimate decision is not mine.’
‘I understand. But I wondered . . .’
‘Yes?’
‘Imogen will be willing to provide you with valuable information in exchange for a light sentence.’
‘Does Imogen know she will be willing to provide me with this valuable info?’
For one very brief moment, Mrs Farnborough’s face showed the expression that had once, famously, caused a back-bencher to wet himself. ‘Not at the moment, but you may rest assured she will.’
Commander Hay did not doubt it for one moment. ‘I want us both to be clear about this. You wish us to locate your daughter and bring her home.’
‘Yes.’
Commander Hay paused. ‘Whatever it takes?’
‘Imogen does not always act in her own best interests. This is one of those occasions.’
‘If what you say is true, then Imogen has broken the law. I should tell you we make no exceptions. We cannot afford to. Each and every offence is prosecuted and we always push for the strongest possible sentence. Sometimes even . . .’ She left the rest of the sentence unspoken.
Mrs Farnborough said quietly, ‘I believe we might be able to come to some arrangement.’
Commander Hay tilted her head to one side and said sardonically, ‘Do you now?’
‘I would be willing to use my influence – my not inconsiderable influence – on your behalf.’
Commander Hay smiled and leaned back in her chair. ‘I have learned to be wary of such offers.’ She picked up her paper knife, turning it over in her fingers, an action that, had he been present, would have filled Captain Farenden with the gravest misgivings. ‘However, as you say, it is very possible Imogen might have something we need.’