‘Oh dear,’ Emma said, her lips close to Tom’s ear. ‘Somebody doesn’t look very happy tonight. Won’t you come and play?’

‘Thank you, no.’ Tom said.

‘Is there nothing I can do to improve your temper?’ Emma placed her bare arm around his shoulders. ‘You haven’t told me how beautiful I look this evening. Before you say anything, I know how terribly shallow that is, but nevertheless, I shall get a complex if I don’t hear somebody say it at least once tonight.’

‘Surely my mother has told you.’

‘You absolute tease!’ She tapped him on the arm. ‘Your mother would proclaim me beautiful if I wore nothing but a potato sack. What about you, Tom? What do you think?’

Tell her, you idiot, Lou mentally screamed.

Tom scratched the side of his nose. ‘If it pleases you to hear it, then you have never looked more beautiful.’

Emma threw back her head and laughed. ‘Now I know you’re teasing. This old frock is on its final outing before meeting its fate with the second-hand man. But I had hoped you might like it. You once told me that I should always wear blue, as it’s your favourite colour. But we were small children then. You were always so kind, so gallant, so –’

‘For Christ’s sake, Edward! What is that infernal racket?’ Tom sprang from his chair. Emma’s arm slipped from his neck. ‘Play something less dreary, can’t you?’

Edward slammed the lid of the piano shut.

‘I know!’ Charlotte squealed. ‘Let’s get the gramophone out and play something jolly. Oh, please, Tom, let’s.’

Tom abandoned Emma to help Charlotte set up the gramophone. ‘What a good idea, Tom,’ Emma purred, rising from the arm of the chair. Tom’s rebuff fell away like rain down oilskin. ‘Why don’t we have a game of cards too? I feel good fortune is smiling on me this evening.’

Edward unfolded a green baize card table and placed it beside the billiard table. Tom helped Charlotte set up the gramophone. Music – a sort of scratchy dance – came from the trumpet. Emma swayed around the room, every movement, every stride, every brush of fingertips along furniture, carefully designed to seduce. So accomplished was she at the art of flirting, Lou felt sure Emma could move the balls on the billiard table through the power of her charm alone.

Tom, George, Charlotte, and Emma, all took seats around the card table. Lou and Edward refused the invitation to join in. The game commenced, and Edward stood beside Lou, staring at the group.

Talk to your brother, Lou wanted to say. He knows your secret about the maid. Let him help you work out how to handle it, before it’s too late. You might not get another chance. She didn’t want to think that her plan to coerce Tom into marrying Emma might fail, but there was no harm in having a back-up plan. Edward must understand his position. She bit her lip. All the while the game progressed across the room, Charlotte delighting in her success and Emma cheering her on.