“However,” said Giles, “it would be equally foolish to underestimate Sir Edward. If I may quote Trollope when describing another advocate, he is ‘as bright as a diamond, and as cutting, and also as unimpressionable.’”

“And I may need those same qualities at next month’s board meeting when I climb into the ring with Mellor.”

“I have a feeling that Mellor and Virginia must be working together,” said Giles. “The timing’s just a little too convenient.”

“Not to mention Fisher,” added Harry.

“Have you decided yet if you’re going to stand against him at the next election?” asked Emma.

“Perhaps it’s time to tell you that Harold Wilson has offered me a seat in the Lords.”

“Congratulations!” said Emma, leaping up from her chair and throwing her arms around her brother. “Some good news at last.”

“And I turned him down.”

“You did what?”

“I turned him down. I told him I wanted one more crack at Bristol Docklands.”

“And one more crack at Fisher, no doubt,” said Harry.

“That would be part of the reason,” admitted Giles. “But if he beats me again, I’ll call it a day.”

“I think you’re out of your mind,” said Emma.

“Which is exactly what you said when I first told you twenty-five years ago that I was going to stand for Parliament.”

“As a socialist,” Emma reminded him.

“If it makes you feel any better,” said Giles, “Sebastian agrees with you.”

“Does that mean you’ve seen him since he got back from New York?” asked Harry.

“Yes, and before you ask, he clammed up the moment I raised the subject.”

“A pity,” said Harry. “Such a remarkable girl.”

“But what I can tell you is that when I dropped into his office before taking him out to lunch, I spotted a child’s painting on the wall behind his desk that I’d never seen before. It was called My Mom, and I could have sworn it was Jessica’s hand.”

“A painting of me?” asked Emma.

“No, that’s the strange thing,” said Giles. “It was of Samantha.”

*   *   *

“Sloane offered you ten pounds a share?” said Ross Buchanan. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Farthings are trading at two pounds eight shillings this morning.”

“He was simply trying to find out what my limit was,” said Seb. “Once he realized I wasn’t interested, he threw in the towel and lost his temper.”

“That shouldn’t have come as a surprise. But why’s he so desperate to get his hands on your six percent?”

“And where do Mellor and Fisher fit in?”

“An unholy alliance that’s up to no good, that’s for sure.”

“There was another name in the visitors’ book that just might provide the answer. Have you ever come across someone called Hakim Bishara?”