I nodded. “Thank you, Queenie. You’re coming along quite nicely.”

“Am I really?” She went quite pink and tiptoed out. I curled up in bed, listening to the moan of the wind down my chimney. Eventually I must have fallen asleep, and I awoke to a wild morning with clouds racing across a sky heavy with the promise of rain. The fire was already burning merrily in my grate, having been lit by an unseen, unheard housemaid, but the prospect outside was so unappealing that I lay under the covers until Queenie arrived with my tea.

“Sorry, miss. It’s so bloomin’ dark that I overslept again,” she said. “Shall I run you a bath? And what will you be wearing?”

“My kilt again with a jumper, I think, and yes, please do run me a bath.”

The clock in the great central foyer was chiming nine as I made my way down to the breakfast room. My nanny back in Scotland would say that I was heading down the slippery slope getting up at such a late hour. The three sisters were sitting together at one end of the table, but there was no sign of the other members of the household. They were involved in some kind of heated discussion when I came in, but broke off when they saw me, nodded then went back to devouring kidneys.

“So what do you think it means, Edwina?” Charlotte asked. “It was such an ominous presence and after last night’s séance . . .”

“I’d say it meant that you overindulged at dinner last night,” Edwina said. “Too much cream in the pudding, maybe.”

“Don’t mock, Edwina. You know I’ve had prophetic dreams in the past. Why, I even dreamed of our downfall in Russia. I saw a horde of black ants swarming all over our beautiful picnic, and Orlovski said, ‘Everything is ruined.’ Then the ants turned and swarmed all over him. And look what happened only a month later.”

“Hmmph,” Edwina said.

“So maybe Cedric is the evil presence I saw in my dream—although why he should take on the shape of a black panther, I don’t know.”

“You had a dream last night, Your Highness?” I asked.

“I did. Most real and vivid. I looked out of my window and I saw this huge, black cat stalking through the grounds. Some kind of black panther or leopard, I’d say. And I knew it meant danger for the family and I believe Edwina’s voice said, ‘How did it get in here? It’s dangerous.’ And someone else replied, ‘The family let it in.’”

Virginia shuddered. “What with that and the Ouija board spelling out ‘death’ last night.”