She worked efficiently and her calmness calmed me too. Although I must admit I got a shock when I saw the slash along the side of the dress and the great red stain spoiling the light silk. At that moment I believe I was more upset by the loss of the expensive dress than the size of my wound. When Mary had me undressed and washed the wound we could see that it was a gash, about three inches long, but mercifully not too deep. The doctor arrived, examined the wound, and pronounced me fortunate. “A little deeper and the knife would have struck your kidney,” he said. He produced a salve then applied sticking plaster liberally. “You are not to move until this is healed. No stairs. No walking,” he said, wagging a finger at me. “Bandages to be changed every twelve hours and the wound to be kept clean or it may turn septic. It should heal well but you’ll probably be left with a scar. That can’t be helped. I shall return to examine you tomorrow.”

I lay back on my bed, feeling suddenly exhausted and close to tears. The memory of that knife in my side was suddenly all too vivid. He had been planning to kill me. That was clear to me now. And what would Daniel say when he saw my scar? I had tried to do the right thing and taken foolish risks again. I looked up as there was a light tap at the door. Sid and Gus stood in the doorway, not daring to come in. Gus was holding Liam.

“See, there is mama. She is taking a rest right now,” she said. “She’ll be ready to play with you soon. But let’s go and build another castle, shall we?”

Sid tiptoed in and sat beside me. “Molly, I’m so sorry,” she said. “You took all these risks for me, and it nearly cost you your life.”

“At least we now know who killed Reynold Bryce,” I said. “It was Maxim Noah.”

“My cousin?” She looked shocked.

“Not your cousin, I’m afraid. Not in any way related to you. He tricked you, Sid. He overheard you telling someone about your quest to locate your family and decided that a rich American relative was just what he needed.”

“Oh, dear,” she said. “I’ve been a fool, haven’t I? So naïve of me. Now that I think about it, he played me beautifully. He got me to say the name of my relatives, to give their history. I fed him all the information he needed to make his claim. How stupid of me.” She shook her head angrily.

“He was a very appealing young man,” I said. “And Gus had a handsome cousin here. Perhaps you wanted one too.”