‘Meadowbank School?’ The voice of a well-bred young Englishman spoke. ‘Oh, is Miss Bulstrode there?’

‘Miss Bulstrode’s not here today. This is Miss Chadwick speaking.’

‘Oh, it’s about one of your pupils. I am speaking from Claridge’s, the Emir Ibrahim’s suite.’

‘Oh yes? You mean about Shaista?’

‘Yes. The Emir is rather annoyed at not having got a message of any kind.’

‘A message? Why should he get a message?’

‘Well, to say that Shaista couldn’t come, or wasn’t coming.’

‘Wasn’t coming! Do you mean to say she hasn’t arrived?’

‘No, no, she’s certainly not arrived. Did she leave Meadowbank then?’

‘Yes. A car came for her this morning—oh, about half past eleven I should think, and she drove off.’

‘That’s extraordinary because there’s no sign of her here…I’d better ring up the firm that supplies the Emir’s cars.’

‘Oh dear,’ said Miss Chadwick, ‘I do hope there hasn’t been an accident.’

‘Oh, don’t let’s assume the worst,’ said the young man cheerfully. ‘I think you’d have heard, you know, if there’d been an accident. Or we would. I shouldn’t worry if I were you.’

But Miss Chadwick did worry.

‘It seems to me very odd,’ she said.

‘I suppose—’ the young man hesitated.

‘Yes?’ said Miss Chadwick.

‘Well, it’s not quite the sort of thing I want to suggest to the Emir, but just between you and me there’s no—er—well, no boy friend hanging about, is there?’

‘Certainly not,’ said Miss Chadwick with dignity.

‘No, no, well I didn’t think there would be, but, well one never knows with girls, does one? You’d be surprised at some of the things I’ve run into.’

‘I can assure you,’ said Miss Chadwick with dignity, ‘that anything of that kind is quite impossible.’

But was it impossible? Did one ever know with girls?

She replaced the receiver and rather unwillingly went in search of Miss Vansittart. There was no reason to believe that Miss Vansittart would be any better able to deal with the situation than she herself but she felt the need of consulting with someone. Miss Vansittart said at once,

‘The second car?’

They looked at each other.

‘Do you think,’ said Chaddy slowly, ‘that we ought to report this to the police?’

‘Not to the police,’ said Eleanor Vansittart in a shocked voice.

‘She did say, you know,’ said Chaddy, ‘that somebody might try to kidnap her.’

‘Kidnap her? Nonsense!’ said Miss Vansittart sharply.

‘You don’t think—’ Miss Chadwick was persistent.

‘Miss Bulstrode left me in charge here,’ said Eleanor Vansittart, ‘and I shall certainly not sanction anything of the kind. We don’t want any more trouble here with the police.’

Miss Chadwick looked at her without affection. She thought Miss Vansittart was being short-sighted and foolish. She went back into the house and put through a call to the Duchess of Welsham’s house. Unfortunately everyone was out.

Chapter 14

Miss Chadwick Lies Awake

Miss Chadwick was restless. She turned to and fro in her bed counting sheep, and employing other time-honoured methods of invoking sleep. In vain.