I didn’t push it. I wasn’t sure what to make of the middle-aged man before me with his irregular smile and his cool, watchful, hazel-brown eyes. I suspected George didn’t miss much – if anything. Crow’s feet crinkled the corners of his eyes and furrowed frown lines had taken up permanent residence on his forehead. The creases cupping his mouth spoke of a man who knew how to laugh, but who also knew how to cry. His moustache was carefully groomed and discreet, his black hair short and precision-cut, framing his face.

‘Is there something wrong, Mrs Ealing?’ George asked, his eyebrows raised at my undisguised scrutiny. Embarrassed, I quickly shook my head. He opened the study door and ushered me inside.

I guess I’d kept my eyes trained on him just a tad too long. ‘Er, George, I was just wondering why you became a butler in the first place. You strike me as the type of person who could do anything you put your mind to.’

George nodded. ‘It’s kind of you to say so, Mrs Ealing. After my wife died, I needed a job that would provide for me and my daughter, Chima. When a friend told me how much butlers could earn and what the job entailed, I decided that would suit me down to the ground. After my training, I was lucky enough to find a position with Mr Jeavons and I’ve been with him ever since.’

‘I’m sorry about your wife. How did she die – if you don’t mind me asking?’

‘Cancer.’

‘I’m so sorry. My sincere condolences.’

‘Thank you.’ George held himself rigid with remembered pain.

‘How did you come to work for Dan Jeavons?’ I couldn’t help asking.

‘Mr Jeavons contacted the agency I work for. He wanted a butler rather than a housekeeper to manage his household. He had rather old-fashioned ideas like that.’

‘Is there much call for butlers these days?’ I wondered.

‘You’d be surprised. To the very rich, we’re a fashion accessory like the latest sports car and the best schools. If you have money, your home is not properly dressed without a butler.’ The tone may have been neutral, but the words most certainly were not.

‘How long had you worked for Dan?’

‘Eight years,’ George replied. ‘He had one butler before me, a Nought, but he proved to be unsuitable. Mr Jeavons specifically requested a Cross butler and I was happy to be interviewed where some of my colleagues were not.’

A Cross butler? George was clearly dual heritage. I guess that made him Cross enough in Dan’s eyes.

‘Really? Did Dan’s reputation precede him even then?’

‘Oh, nothing like that,’ George dismissed with a wave of his hand. ‘But some of my Cross colleagues were most insistent that they didn’t wish to work for Noughts.’

‘Ah, I see. But you didn’t mind?’