‘Well!’ Cooper-ffrench scoffed. ‘I’m not going to argue with you about this. I think that whoever said that a little learning in a woman is a dangerous thing was absolutely right. Good day to you.’

So saying, he gave a little bow and walked off in a huff.

Merriot laughed. ‘I’m afraid our Mister Cooper-ffrench is somewhat lacking in a sense of humour.’

Merriot himself was considerably less pompous about the classics and was, all in all, rather easy-going and genial. He and Charmian soon fell into a noisy conversation, ignoring the stately procession of passing boats.

James was only half paying attention, feeling drowsy in the late-afternoon sun, when Perry Mandeville barged through the crowd, looking worried and out of breath.

‘Have you seen M-Mark?’ he asked.

‘I saw him earlier, yes,’ said James. ‘He was in a bad way.’

‘He hit me,’ said Perry, indignantly. ‘Quite hard, actually, I think he’s m-mad, he was trying to get the keys for the garage off m-me, when I wouldn’t help him he punched m-me, a proper punch, m-mind you, and ran off saying he was going to break in.’

‘How long ago was this?’ said James, anxiously glancing over at Merriot and his aunt who were still deep in conversation.

‘About five m-minutes,’ said Perry. ‘M-maybe m-more, I’ve been looking all over for you, what do you think we should do? It was like confronting a wild m-man, he quite put the wind up m-me.’

‘We’d better go,’ said James.

He gabbled a hasty excuse to Charmian and set off at a run with Perry.

‘We’ve got to get to the garage and stop him,’ he said, elbowing a fat lady in a fur stole out of the way. ‘The state he’s in – if he takes that car, anything might happen.’

4

Out of Control

‘It seems they found the remains of his father’s boat,’ said Perry. ‘Pretty grisly stuff. Floating wreckage and dead bodies. It looks like there was a fire of some sort.’

James and Perry were pushing through the aimlessly milling hordes, ignoring the complaints and shouts as they jostled people aside.

‘Have they found his family?’ said James.

‘I don’t know,’ said Perry. ‘It’s all a bit of a m-mess. When M-Mark’s housemaster told him the news, he lost his cool.’

The narrow roads of Eton had not been built for cars, and, on days like this, when everyone turned up in a motor and then proceeded to wander in the roads, the traffic was at a near standstill. So the boys left the pavement and ran in the road, moving faster than the traffic.

‘But what does he want the car for?’ James shouted, dodging round a big black Daimler.

‘To get away from all this, I imagine,’ Perry shouted back. ‘I don’t think he could cope with seeing all the other boys with their parents.’

They crossed the Thames into Windsor. It was less busy here, though traffic for Eton was still backed up. They were concentrating too hard on running now to be able to talk any more. They passed the castle, turned into Peascod Street, then left the main road. In a few minutes they were in a scruffy part of town, running down a grimy alley between small factories and warehouses, their footsteps echoing off the high grey walls.