He wasn’t going to get the manner of address right, or else he was being deliberately rude to me. I sighed. “I am a member of the ruling family of England and as such I hardly like to steal the queen’s necklace or to kill a man I had never met before.”

“We have done a little prying into your affairs, Lady Georgiana.” He was looking even more smug by now. “And we find that, yes, you are related to the king, but that your brother and yourself are in dire financial straits. You have no money, Lady Georgiana. You have no prospect of any money. Maybe you took the necklace, then set up a plan to rob Sir Toby?”

“Utter rubbish!” I said. “Ask anyone who knows me. They will vouch for my character. I have had plenty of chances to marry for money or to live with a richer family member. I choose to make my own way, living in poverty. I have pride and I have integrity.”

“Very well. I take your word on this for the moment. So let us then say that it was a crime of passion.”

“Of passion?” I almost laughed out loud. “I felt no passion for Sir Toby, I assure you.”

He leaned closer to me. His garlic breath became stronger, almost overpowering in that small room. “I understand that you leaped from Sir Toby’s yacht into the arms of the marquis. Maybe this Sir Toby tries to have his way with you. Maybe he forces you against your will, and you return to seek vengeance for your honor.”

“You sound like an Italian opera,” I said. “Maybe people behave in that way in France, but not in England or Scotland, I assure you.”

“Then you please tell me why you crept into Sir Toby’s garden, sneaking forward like a thief and carrying something under your arm.”

“The answer to that is that it wasn’t I. Your observer saw someone else who may have resembled me. In fact, several people have mentioned that they have spotted someone in Nice who looks like me. I suggest you find her.”

“Were you wearing white trousers today, milady?” He glanced at a sheet of paper in front of him. “And a dark blue jacket? And a sailor’s hat?”

“Yes, I was, but—”

“This is exactly how you were described when seen creeping into Sir Toby’s house at around three o’clock in the afternoon.”

“Who exactly described me and witnessed this fictitious event?”