“Of course you wouldn’t, darling,” Mummy said. “It’s been a nightmare for you. I’ll take you home straight away. See, my car is waiting over there. If you’ll excuse us, Marquis.”

“I understand.” He gave me a wonderful smile. “Go home and sleep well, ma petite.”

“I’m sorry our lovely evening was spoiled,” I said.

He took my hand and raised it to his lips. “There will be other evenings,” he said, and he looked at me as his lips lingered on my hand in a way that, in spite of everything, made me feel weak at the knees.

“You’ve certainly made a conquest there,” Mummy said as we reached the car and the chauffeur got out to open the door for us. “Positively drooling over you, darling. Well, you wouldn’t do too badly if you snagged that one. A marquis isn’t as good as a prince, I know, but he does have oodles of loot.”

“Mummy, how can you talk about such things, after what has just happened?”

She patted my knee as she climbed into the car beside me. “I prefer not to dwell on the unpleasant aspects of life. And now the marquis and his lawyer have taken charge, this will all be forgotten in an instant. Especially when our man from Scotland Yard arrives.”

“Who is the top man from Scotland Yard you have coming to help?” I asked.

“Why, your grandfather, of course,” Mummy said.

I had to laugh. “Mummy, he was an ordinary constable and he’s retired.”

“That odious little man doesn’t need to know that,” Mummy said.

“Is Granddad really coming, then? Have you heard back from him?”

“No, but I told him we’d booked his ticket. In the morning I’ll send a second telegram saying ‘Georgie arrested for murder.’ That should do the trick.”

“It would be lovely if he did come,” I said wistfully. Now that I was no longer facing the horrid inspector and safely in Mummy’s car, I felt as if I might let myself down and cry. What I wanted more than anything else at this moment was my grandfather’s comforting presence, the smell of his old tweed jacket and the feel of his bristly cheek as he hugged me. I didn’t dare hope too much that he would come. I knew it would be a huge undertaking for him to leave England and go abroad to a country he mistrusted. But I knew that he loved me too. So I let a glimmer of hope burn inside me.

For once Mummy was a real brick. She pushed Queenie out of the way and helped me undress, then she brought me hot milk with brandy in it and handed me a little white pill.

“What is it?” I asked cautiously.

“Just a sleeping pill, darling. I use them all the time. Take it and you’ll sleep like a baby.”