Aunt Marion stopped him. 'You're here, Dr Warren, because you're curator of the Thorn Museum. And I also happen to own twenty-seven percent of that!'

Warren sat back down.

Aunt Marion was having a marvellous time. She had everyone's complete and undivided attention. She could feel Ann's piercing gaze upon her, but knowing already that Ann loathed her, she didn't care. She had never liked Ann either. She'd always had a feeling that Ann's timing in entering Richard's life was too perfect, that there was an element of the fortune-hunter about her, and that the persistence with which she'd gone after Richard so soon after the death of his first wife was not unlike a buzzard's circling a brand-new corpse.

But Aunt Marion shook that thought from her mind. She had something else to say tonight. She leaned forward in her chair and said, very slowly and very distinctly, 'I want you to take the boys out of the military academy and to put them in separate schools.'

There was a long silence, and finally Ann said with equal poise and deliberation, 'Where the boys are concerned, I don't care what you want. They're not your sons, they're ours.'

Which is exactly what Marion hoped she would say. 'May I remind you,' she said with a small smile, 'that neither boy is yours. Mark is Richard's son by his first wife, and Damien is his brother's son!'

Ann trembled with rage. It was all she could do to keep the tears from starting up. She pushed back her chair and stood up. 'Thank you,' she snapped. ‘Thank you very much!'

Richard took her arm gently and eased her back down into her seat. Then he turned to Marion. ‘What's all this about, for God's sake?'

'Get Mark away from Damien,' said the old woman, her eyes afire with conviction. ‘They don't belong together. Damien's a terrible influence; can't you see it? Do you want to ruin Mark, destroy him?’

Richard jumped to his feet. ‘That's it,' he said. 'I'll see you up to your room, Marion.'

Aunt Marion stood up to face him. 'You're blind, Richard, purposely blind!' She took hold of both his hands. 'You know your brother tried to kill Damien—'

Dr Warren looked shocked. This was news to him.

Ann jumped up again and shouted, 'Get her out of here, Richard! Get her out!’

Aunt Marion knew it was now or never. She kept right on going. 'Why did he try to kill Damien? Answer me! Tell the truth!'

Richard could barely control his rage. ‘Robert was ill,' he said through tightly clenched teeth, 'mentally—'

'Stop it!' cried Ann. 'Don't even talk to her!'

Dr Warren didn't know what to do. He was both embarrassed and fascinated. He sat there very quietly, twisting his napkin in his hands and trying to act invisible.