As she tore into the Beef Wellington, her silence was disturbed.

‘Charlotte tells me that you have two brothers, Miss Arnold,’ Sir Charles said. ‘Would I have met them at a hunt or a shoot?’

Lou paused with her fork midway to her mouth. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘They are in India, Papa.’ Charlotte said.

‘Of course. Well, when they are next in the country, depending on the season, they must join us on a shoot or to fish. The trout in the stream are particularly good, and Edward’s rods are always available since he gave up fishing as a pastime some years ago. He’d rather pass the day with his nose in a book or milling around the grounds. Isn’t that right, Edward?’

Across the table from Lou, Edward pushed a potato around his plate; his head drooping like a marionette with the strings cut. Stripped of his protective blanket of alcohol, he cut a far less belligerent figure.

‘We all share a passion for this old house, Charles,’ Mrs Hart said, stabbing a slice of carrot. ‘But not all of us share a desire to annihilate the creatures that exist on its land in the name of sport. Why go to the trouble of maintaining a library, if you expect nobody to read poetry? And why pay a small army of gardeners to maintain the grounds, if not to walk in them?’

Sir Charles smiled. ‘As ever, Leonora, I can rely on you to point out the error of my ways.’ He called for the second footman to refresh Edwards’s wine, even though he had barely touched it. ‘Please ensure that Edward’s glass is never empty tonight. As I understand it, my son has developed quite a thirst in the last few days.’ He paused. ‘Remind me, Thomas, of what you were telling me earlier about how you instruct new recruits to engage with the enemy.’

Like his father, Captain Mandeville smiled. ‘I advise that one should never engage in close combat with the enemy, unless you can be pretty sure you have the upper hand.’

‘Indeed,’ Sir Charles said. ‘Advice we could all learn from.’

Lou glanced at Mrs Hart, who ate her food angrily, spearing her vegetables. Edward stared at his rare beef, as though he might throw up at any second. Lady Mandeville and Charlotte ate polite mouthfuls while Sir Charles and Captain Mandeville shared little grins as they tucked into their meals. Deciding to steer clear of taking sides in the power game at play around the table, Lou retreated to the relative safety of her beef. But after only one more mouthful, she found that her ever-tightening corset made it impossible to force down another morsel. She placed her knife and fork on the side of the plate and gazed longingly at the remaining pastry and meat.

‘I had quite a long conversation with Mr Churchill in the lobby of The House yesterday,’ Sir Charles said to his wife.

Mrs Hart made a noise like a snort.