‘I did not expect you back so soon, sir,’ she said, as Harry limped in. It was one of his bad days and his leg was painful.

Harry paused at the door to the inner office. He sniffed the air. ‘Funny, there’s a smell of gin.’

‘Brigadier Handy called when you were out. He wished to see how I was settling in,’ said Ailsa.

‘Really? I thought he was a brandy-and-soda man. Get me Lady Potterton’s file, please.’

Harry decided to drop into his club that evening. It was simply called The Club and situated at the bottom of St James’s. The first person he saw was the brigadier. He sank down in a chair opposite the old man and stretched out his throbbing leg.

‘I believe you called at my office today,’ said Harry.

‘Yes, called round to see how Miss Bridge was settling in.’

‘She is an excellent secretary. May I get you a drink? Gin and something?’

‘Good heavens, man. I never touch the stuff.’

Harry laughed. ‘My office smelt of gin. I thought you had left your scent behind.’

‘Not me. And it can’t be the missionaries’ daughter. Must be one of those new cleaning materials. They smell a bit like gin. How are you, old man? I’ll have a brandy and soda.’

‘Nothing came of that murder case at Farthings or the murder of Freddy Pomfret. It really galls me to have a murder committed right under my nose.’

He signalled to the waiter and ordered two brandies and sodas.

‘I read in the newspapers that Lady Rose was one of the guests,’ said the brigadier. ‘Good dowry there.’

‘If I get married,’ said Harry, ‘it won’t be to Lady Rose, neither will it be because of some female’s dowry.’

‘Oh, well, you haven’t a chance anyway. I mean, with Lady Rose.’

‘Why?’

‘She’s been seen about with Tristram Baker-Willis.’

‘Nothing there. Lady Rose told me he had proposed marriage to her at Farthings and she had rejected him.’

‘She might have changed her mind.’

‘Why?’

‘Those parents of hers keep a strong guard on her and I was talking to Hadshire the other day. Seems they really do want to ship her off to India. Now if she got married, well, Baker-Willis might prove a complacent husband and she’d get her freedom and her own household. Course she would need to provide the heir and the spare first.’

Harry had a sudden vision of Tristram in the throes of providing himself with an heir and experienced a shudder of revulsion.

After he had chatted about other things and left the club, Harry went back to his office and called the earl’s residence. The earl’s secretary, Matthew Jarvis, answered the phone. Harry asked if he might speak to Lady Rose.

‘I am afraid,’ said Matthew, ‘that Lady Rose is not allowed to receive any phone calls.’