“Silly, silly,” she said, reaching across to slap his hand. But she did cut her order to a clear consommé, pheasant and a sweet soufflé, all of which were utterly delicious. And the bottle of rosé certainly revived our spirits so that we were in a good mood as Darcy drove us back to Kilhenny. The bright morning had turned to cloudy afternoon and I couldn’t help thinking that Darcy would have to make this trip again later to return the princess to her hotel. She definitely was proving a complication.

“I think we should stop off and visit your solicitors on the way back to the castle,” Princess Zamanska said as we left the city behind us. “Find out exactly what they have been doing so far and let them know our thoughts.”

“I spoke to them when I arrived,” Darcy said. “Frankly I’m not too hopeful. Old Mr. Leach even suggested pleading insanity. He said there were some quite pleasant institutions these days.”

“Good heavens,” Zou Zou exclaimed. “Then we definitely need to go and set them straight. Where are they, Darcy? In Dublin?”

“No, in Kildare.”

“Oh dear. Country solicitors. They are always hopeless. The sooner the case is taken away from them the better.”

“That’s up to my father, not me,” Darcy said. “He hired them.”

“Don’t worry, as soon as we have my brilliant barrister chappie all will be well,” Zou Zou said. “And we really must sit down and speak to this father of yours. I’d like to hear what he’s got to say for himself.”

“He won’t even talk to me, Zou Zou. Any attempts at conversation have been met with a curt ‘mind your own business.’”

“Ah, but I’m awfully good at getting people to talk,” Zou Zou said. “I should have been a spy in the Great War. I’d have winkled all kinds of secrets out of the Germans.”

Darcy exchanged a quick look with me. We arrived in Kildare.

“Solicitors?” Zou Zou said.

“I don’t think that’s the wisest idea at the moment. Not with three of us.”

“But we have new information for them. The mysterious identity of Mr. Roach.”

“Let’s wait until we find out who he really was, and until we have the name of your barrister, Zou Zou,” Darcy said.

I could understand his reluctance. Introducing Princess Zou Zou in a country solicitor’s office would be rather like bringing a peacock into a henhouse.

“Very well, then what shall we do next?”

“You wanted to take care of your aeroplane, didn’t you?” I suggested.

“Of course. And I want to see your castle, Darcy. I grew up in a medieval castle too. Such fun, but drafty.”

So we continued on toward Kilhenny.