Daisy tried not to feel too selfishly upset when Rose told her that there had been no time to speak to Harry about Becket. ‘And you are going away tomorrow,’ mourned Daisy.

She looked hopefully at Rose. ‘We could run away again.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t face running away any more. The stay in Scotland will help me to make up my mind about Harry.’

Becket called early in the morning at the police station with a change of clothes for Harry.

‘This is ridiculous,’ raged Harry. ‘I am being moved to London. My lawyer couldn’t get hold of Kerridge. I thought Lady Rose might have tried to see me.’

‘Lady Rose was refused permission and the family are leaving for Scotland today.’

Harry fretted all the way to London and when he found himself locked up in a police cell in Pentonville Prison, he felt he was moving through a nightmare.

In the evening, a guard told him he was wanted in the governor’s office. Harry followed him along the bleak corridors and down the iron staircase to the governor’s office.

When he walked in, Kerridge was waiting. ‘My dear fellow,’ said Kerridge, ‘this has all been a terrible mistake. We’ve caught the culprit, a hospital porter. It turns out he has a history of insanity. A nurse who was off duty when you were arrested saw him go into Thomson’s room. We found the knife that stabbed her on the floor and it had his fingerprints on it.’

‘Wasn’t there a policeman on guard outside her door?’ asked Harry.

‘I’m afraid he had fallen asleep. We are so sorry.’

‘You don’t begin to know what you have done,’ said Harry. ‘Now get me out of here!’

Becket was waiting for him in the car outside. ‘Home, sir?’

‘No, back to Stacey Court as soon as possible.’

‘I am afraid it is too late. The family left for Scotland this morning.’

Harry felt bitter. He knew that Rose could be courageous and resourceful. She could have escaped from the house somehow and she could have come to see him.

It was finished. She did not care for him.

It was a mellow summer in Perthshire. Rose went with her parents to various parties and exercised by walking on the moors. She knew she should feel relieved, and yet she felt dull and empty. She had read about the false arrest of Harry in the newspapers. She had also read about the successful opening of Miss Friendly’s salon, which had been delayed for a few weeks because a supply of brocade had not arrived in time, and experienced a pang of guilt that she had forgotten all about the opening.

She tried to tell herself that she was better off and safer without him, but she felt like a coward. She knew she should have escaped from Stacey Court and gone to see him.

One evening, she attended a grand ball given at the home of the Duke of Perthshire. As she whirled about the ballroom floor, Rose began to wish irrationally that Harry would walk in. She had wanted a peaceful social life and now she had it. Then she saw a man with his back to the ballroom standing at the entrance. He was tall and dark. Then he turned round and her heart sank. She had thought it was Harry.