But, for some Italians, that wasn’t enough. Why stop there? they argued. Rome had once ruled the entire known world. Could it not do so again? The unification of Italy was only the beginning; the ultimate aim should be the rebuilding of the entire Roman Empire.

So another secret society was formed – the Millenaria – and they set about plotting and planning and scheming and spying.

Come along, you old duffer, get on with it, I hear you cry! What has this to do with the two Ms? Well, the secret symbol of the Millenaria was a double M, standing for two thousand years. I have tried to drum some knowledge of Latin and Roman history into you, so perhaps you may recall that Julius Caesar was born in 100 BC. And Julius Caesar was, of course, the very first Roman emperor, and therefore a suitable figurehead for a cult dedicated to reminding the world of the glories of ancient Rome. MM. Two thousand years.

Well, two thousand years after Caesar’s birth, 1900, was the year the Millenaria launched their campaign. Over the next few years there were some skirmishes, much shouting and waving of hands, but not a lot really happened. The one notable incident was when one of their number stole the Mona Lisa from the Louvre and tried to return it to Italian hands. Then war broke out and Italy was caught up in the monstrous events of 1914. After the war the Millenaria were all but forgotten, and Signor Mussolini and his fascists took control. Some say that remnants of the Millenaria helped him gain power; certainly some of his ideas and style were borrowed from them. However, if they did help him, Mussolini soon got rid of them. He would have had no desire to share his power with anyone else.

And now Mussolini has declared himself a sort of Roman emperor and has designs on the rest of the world!

I think your aunt was right, James. The ancient Romans are not a great role model. They had an unhealthy lust for power and glory and bloodshed.

I hope this may be of some interest to you. As I say, please forgive the history lesson, but I thought it might answer your question…

James had smiled when he’d first read the letter last night. It was kind of Mr Merriot to write to him, but there was little chance that an obscure Italian secret society that had died out twenty years ago could have anything to do with the nondescript house with the ivy-clad courtyard and the scarred man with an M tattooed on either hand.

But on the back of the letter was a hastily scribbled addition:

P.S. You might like to know that the Millenaria spoke Latin in all their secret meetings and proposed it as a new world language, hence Mr Cooper-ffrench’s interest in them. As you know, he would have us all speaking Latin!

Now, sweltering under the sun that hammered down out of a clear blue sky, James was turning over in his mind the few parts of the puzzle that he had, seeing if they would fit together. He felt like an archaeologist trying to piece together some random bits of broken pottery.