I’m no feart. I saw the childish face turned upwards to the colonel’s in my mind, and I narrowed my own eyes against the brightness of the water.

‘Rob, you’re sure the little Anna we’ve been following today is Margaret’s ancestor?’

‘I’m sure.’

‘But how? I mean, there could have been a dozen Annas living here …’

‘I’m sure.’ His tone was not so stubborn as assertive, with the confidence of someone wholly certain of his facts. He left no room for me to question that, but given it was Rob I didn’t need to. His abilities, his instincts, were so far beyond my own that if he felt so sure of something, there was nothing I could do but trust his word.

And if the Anna we’d been watching was, in truth, the one to whom the Empress Catherine had been speaking in my vision, that first flash I’d had the day I’d held the Firebird, then I knew that Anna had once been in Russia, in St Petersburg. But how she’d come to be there, and with whom, and where she’d lived, and what on earth had brought her into Catherine’s orbit – these were questions I still didn’t know the answers to, and if I were to truly have a go at pinning down some sort of provenance for Margaret’s treasured Firebird while I was in St Petersburg, my time was running out.

I said, ‘That thing you did today …’ That so incredible, amazing thing he’d done that had transported me and let me see another time more vividly than I’d imagined possible. I cleared my throat. ‘Is that the way you always see? I mean, if we did go to Belgium, could you …’

‘Aye.’ He smiled a little. ‘That’s the way I always see.’

The stab of envy that I felt was so keen I felt sure he would pick up on it, but his attention had been caught by something at my feet.

Distracted, I looked down myself. At the edge of the Bullers of Buchan a single white feather had snagged on a low clump of blowing grass and withered wildflowers, fighting the wind that was trying to tear it away.

It was only a gull’s feather, ragged and plain, not a feather of flame from a firebird, but I felt Rob’s amusement before I looked up at him.

There were those eyes again, daring me, waiting.

‘That’s how it begins,’ he said, ‘isn’t it?’

Hands in his pockets, he patiently watched while I looked down again at the feather. The wind caught its end and it started to lift and on impulse I bent down and reached for it.

As I stood, feather in hand, Rob’s smile turned to a grin and his gaze angled out to sea. ‘Belgium, then.’

Letting my gaze follow his I fought back a swift twist in my stomach that might have been dread or excitement, and gave a nod. ‘Belgium.’

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sebastian leant back in his chair. ‘Belgium?’

‘Yes, well, something came up rather suddenly, with an old friend,’ I said, trying to keep enough truth in the words so that I’d sound convincing. ‘I know it’s a bother, but I thought since it’s quiet this time of the year, and I’m already heading out Thursday, it might be all right.’

He studied me as though I’d just done something that intrigued him. ‘Do you know,’ he told me in a thoughtful tone, ‘I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you be quite so spontaneous.’

I shrugged, and was about to make excuses when he caught me out with, ‘Tell the truth. You’ve got it all arranged already, haven’t you?’

‘Sort of.’ I held out a moment longer before giving in. ‘Well, yes. I’ve hired the new receptionist, and she can start tomorrow, so you won’t be on your own.’

He was smiling. ‘Who’d you hire?’

‘Her name is Gemma. Gemma Richardson. You liked her.’

He searched his memory. ‘Gemma … wasn’t she the little blonde?’

I shook my head. ‘Brunette. She’d worked for Sotheby’s.’

‘Ah.’ Sebastian nodded. ‘Gemma, yes. Long legs, big …’ meeting my dry look, he finished innocently ‘… eyes.’

‘Yes, well, she’s got a big brain to go with those eyes,’ I said. ‘She’ll be able to get up to speed quite easily, I think. I’ve briefed her on your schedule and appointments for the next week, so there shouldn’t be a problem while I’m gone. I’ll have my mobile, if you need me.’

‘You seem very sure that I’ll say yes.’

I faced his teasing look with patience. ‘Well?’

‘Belgium.’ Steepling his fingers he considered my request. ‘You’d leave tonight, you said?’

‘That’s right. And we’d be coming back on Wednesday, so I’ll have lots of time to make my flight the next day.’

‘Two nights in Belgium,’ was the only thing he took from that. His eyebrows rose in speculation. ‘When you say “an old friend”, do you mean “an old friend”, or … ?’

‘Sebastian.’

‘Yes, all right.’ He grinned. ‘Go on. I can’t complain now, can I, since you’ve gone and got me Gemma. Just be sure to take your mobile.’

He’d already rung me twice before we’d even made it onto the M20.

Rob, negotiating traffic, had stayed silent in his undemanding way the first time I’d been speaking to Sebastian, but when I rang off now he sent a glance in my direction and one eyebrow lifted over the hard line of his dark sunglasses as he asked, ‘Is he aye troubling you like this?’