‘At least the Duke and Duchess had the good fortune to be in a decent chateau – unlike our holiday-from-hell one that I booked us!’ Cleo said.

‘Hey,’ he said. ‘We chose it together.’

‘Well, next time, let’s try to make a better choice, eh?’

Cleo smiled thinly, then looked back at the screen. ‘You’re right about this show. I was rubbish at History at school,’ she said. ‘I didn’t like my History teacher, so I hardly learned a thing. Now I’m fascinated by it, I want to learn as much as I can, but how can we tell in this series what is the truth and what isn’t? I read an interview with the writer, talking about a scene he made up. So how do we know just how much he’s invented?’

‘I totally agree,’ Grace replied. ‘If I watch something historical, I want to believe it’s accurate, otherwise what’s the point? Whatever distortions in this or any other period drama, you’ll have millions of people forever believing mistakenly that that was the truth – and that’s very dangerous. And not just this show, but countless other so-called historical dramas.’

‘Also,’ Cleo said, ‘it’s hard to judge anything that happened in the past by the standards we have today, isn’t it?’

‘Sure. Attitudes in general were different then. Divorce is part of life today – back then it was pretty much a cardinal sin.’

She looked at him quizzically. ‘Would you have given up the throne for me?’

‘Without a second’s thought.’

She thumped him playfully. ‘Liar!’

‘I totally would have!’

The dog responded by farting. Both batted away the toxic smell with their hands. ‘Humphrey, no, that’s disgusting!’ Grace chided.

The dog gave him a baleful but unapologetic eye.

‘And very disrespectful in front of Her Majesty, Humphrey!’ Cleo complained, picking up the remote and freezing the video. ‘I can’t stop thinking about what you told me earlier, your visit to Guy.’

Batchelor’s notebook lay on the table in front of them.

‘It could end Cassian Pewe’s career,’ she said. ‘But what if it backfired?’

He nodded. ‘I know.’

‘They’d be relying on the evidence of a convicted, bent stockbroker and a police officer convicted of manslaughter. How well do you think that would play?’

‘In the right hands, it would be goodbye Cassian Pewe.’

She nodded at the television. ‘When he was King Edward VIII, he made a massive miscalculation, and lived out the rest of his life a sad and lost man, who had given up the trappings of royal life.’

‘And your point is?’

‘Swap Wallis Simpson for Cassian Pewe for a moment. You are risking everything that you have over him? You know the Chinese proverb, don’t you?’

‘Which is?’

‘Before you seek revenge, first dig two graves.’

He smiled. ‘I will. One for Cassian Pewe and one for his ego.’

8

Sunday 1 September

Mr and Mrs Sutherland, account customers of Mark Tuckwell, were a sweet, wealthy couple in their eighties. They divided their year between their house in Naples, Florida, their flat in Marbella and their penthouse on Hove seafront.