Before this confrontation could continue, Edwina appeared at the entrance to the Long Gallery. “Ah, there you all are,” she said, brushing an invisible strand of gray hair from her face as if the distress of the moment might have spoiled her usually immaculate appearance. “The inspector has gone to look at Cedric’s body. He will then wait for the police surgeon to arrive before they move him. When he returns, he wants to speak with us in turn in the library. He will require a statement from each of us.”

“A statement? What about?” Princess Charlotte asked.

“The murder, of course,” Edwina said testily. “Really, Charlotte, you are annoyingly stupid sometimes.”

“But none of us knows anything about the murder,” Charlotte said.

“Quite right,” Virginia agreed. “If Cedric chooses to go wandering the grounds at some ungodly hour and gets himself murdered by a nasty tramp, then I really don’t see what point there would be in talking to us. I, for one, was enjoying a rather pleasant dream when Cedric went out. I was back in Vienna, and a certain Hungarian captain was . . .”

“All the same,” Edwina interrupted curtly, “the inspector has summoned us and we will do our best to help him solve my son’s murder. Between ourselves, I don’t think he is the brightest man in the world, and I will be calling my friend Sir John Bellingham, the lord lieutenant, to see if the Kentish constabulary might have someone more suitable for the job at their headquarters in Maidstone. Or whether he thinks we should call in Scotland Yard.”

“I have contacts at Scotland Yard,” Darcy said. “Do you want me to put out some feelers there?”

“Put out some feelers? What an extraordinary expression, Mr. O’Mara. Have you turned into an octopus? Or a butterfly, maybe?”

Darcy grinned. “Let me rephrase, Your Grace. Would you like me to make some discreet inquiries about Scotland Yard’s possibility of their taking over this case?”

“Let us see what my friend the lord lieutenant says first. One must be careful not to tread on toes.” She looked down at Darcy. “I take it you will be staying with us for a while, Mr. O’Mara?”

“In the circumstances, I think I should,” Darcy said.

“Much appreciated.” She nodded at him with satisfaction. “I think your old room is still ready for you, if you’d like to refresh yourself after your journey. I’ll ring for Frederick to fetch your bags.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” Darcy said.

Edwina now turned her gaze on Belinda. “And Miss Warburton-Stoke, I gather you only came to bring Lady Georgiana some of her belongings. Most kind of you.”

I tried not to smile, interested to see how Belinda was going to take not being invited to stay. She was usually good at inveigling invitations.