‘I believe Rosie has talked to you about Brigadier Baldwin?’

Lord Stow said nothing but gave an abrupt nod.

‘I worked for Monty for almost a year at the War Office, where he courted me, flattered me and finally seduced me,’ she said, without as much as a blush or a hesitation. Sybil simply recited the cold facts. ‘He had a reputation for womanizing; I just happened to be one in a long line of many.’

‘Did you know he was married?’ Lord Stow asked.

Sybil nodded. ‘He made no secret of his marriage to Lady Veronica – quite the opposite. He seemed immensely proud to be her husband; the relationship clearly enhanced his own swollen ego.’

‘So even though he was a married man you allowed the situation to continue?’ Lord Stow cut in.

Sybil raised a perfectly arched dark eyebrow as if to say, you are a man of the world, before she continued in her clipped, elegant voice. ‘Yes. We became lovers and I got pregnant.’

Blushing Rosie, who could never have spoken to his lordship in such a cold, matter-of-fact manner, stared shame-faced at her own trembling hands.

‘Monty said he would take care of things, which was the only gentlemanly thing he could do in the circumstances. I imagined he would send me to some genteel nursing home near to my family and friends; instead he sent me to the opposite end of the country, to a Mother and Baby Home run by nuns. In effect Monty got me out of the way, exiled me there so that nobody would know of my condition, especially your daughter,’ she added pointedly.

Seeing Lord Stow moving uneasily in his chair, Sybil concluded, ‘Your son-in-law is an unscrupulous cad, sir. I know nothing personally of his relationship with your daughter, but I have heard from Rosie of the further wrongs he committed. We’re coming from two very different perspectives: Rosie was your servant, I was Monty’s lover, but both of us have exactly the same opinion of him.’

‘I’m surprised that a woman like you, a woman clearly of the world, should suddenly have scruples,’ Lord Stow scoffed. ‘Why involve yourself now?’

‘I’m involving myself, as you put it, because I want to punish Monty for what he did to me. I paid the price for being a little fool. Rosie may have other, kinder motives: her devotion to Lady Veronica and Miss Marigold. Believe me, my motives are not quite so charitable.’

Seeing Lord Stow visibly slumping in his chair, Sybil said quietly, ‘Sir, your daughter’s reputation goes before her; she is obviously a proud and loyal woman who would never let her family down.’

‘Never!’ he exclaimed.

‘I have not witnessed what Rosie has described to you, but you cannot doubt her testimony; she comes here only to help the mistress she is still devoted to – surely that is significant in itself?’