‘Nonsense!’ said Lady Grayle. She went on: ‘Well, there it is! Find out the truth for me! Once I know—’

He looked at her curiously. ‘Once you know, what then, Lady Grayle?’

‘That’s my business.’ Her lips closed sharply.

Mr Parker Pyne hesitated a minute, then he said: ‘You will excuse me, Lady Grayle, but I have the impression that you are not being entirely frank with me.’

‘That’s absurd. I’ve told you exactly what I want you to find out.’

‘Yes, but not the reason why?’

Their eyes met. Hers fell first.

‘I should think the reason was self-evident,’ she said.

‘No, because I am in doubt upon one point.’

‘What is that?’

‘Do you want your suspicions proved right or wrong?’

‘Really, Mr Pyne!’ The lady rose to her feet, quivering with indignation.

Mr Parker Pyne nodded his head gently. ‘Yes, yes,’ he said. ‘But that doesn’t answer my question, you know.’

‘Oh!’ Words seemed to fail her. She swept out of the room.

Left alone, Mr Parker Pyne became very thoughtful. He was so deep in his own thoughts that he started perceptibly when someone came in and sat down opposite him. It was Miss MacNaughton.

‘Surely you’re all back very soon,’ said Mr Parker Pyne.

‘The others aren’t back. I said I had a headache and came back alone.’ She hesitated. ‘Where is Lady Grayle?’

‘I should imagine lying down in her cabin.’

‘Oh, then that’s all right. I don’t want her to know I’ve come back.’

‘You didn’t come on her account then?’

Miss MacNaughton shook her head. ‘No, I came back to see you.’

Mr Parker Pyne was surprised. He would have said off-hand that Miss MacNaughton was eminently capable of looking after troubles herself without seeking outside advice. It seemed that he was wrong.

‘I’ve watched you since we all came on board. I think you’re a person of wide experience and good judgement. And I want advice very badly.’

‘And yet—excuse me, Miss MacNaughton—but you’re not the type that usually seeks advice. I should say that you were a person who was quite content to rely on her own judgement.’

‘Normally, yes. But I am in a very peculiar position.’

She hesitated a moment. ‘I do not usually talk about my cases. But in this instance I think it is necessary. Mr Pyne, when I left England with Lady Grayle, she was a straightforward case. In plain language, there was nothing the matter with her. That’s not quite true, perhaps. Too much leisure and too much money do produce a definite pathological condition. Having a few floors to scrub every day and five or six children to look after would have made Lady Grayle a perfectly healthy and a much happier woman.’

Mr Parker Pyne nodded.