‘Lemon juice,’ muttered Lady Polly. ‘This is awful. I shall need to make my calls veiled.’

She turned reluctantly away from the mirror and faced her daughter. ‘Well, Rose, we shall need to decide what to do about you. We may as well make use of the Season now you are here. A few discreet calls at first, I think. Good heavens, child, what is that ring doing on your finger?’

Rose braced herself. ‘I have decided to marry the captain after all.’

‘Bad connection,’ said the little earl, reluctantly casting aside the newspaper he had been reading. ‘Nothing good will come of it except more nasty adventures and scandal in the papers. Give him his ring back.’

‘I can’t,’ said Rose defiantly. ‘He could sue me for breach of promise.’

‘No, he can’t. He hasn’t got our permission, so there. You are not marrying Cathcart.’

As if on cue, Brum announced from the doorway, ‘Captain Cathcart.’

‘Look here,’ said the earl. ‘You’ve got no right to creep around behind our backs. You ain’t marrying Rose, and that’s that.’

‘I have pointed out to you before,’ said Harry, ‘that your daughter has a knack of getting into trouble and she will need someone like me to protect her.’

‘I have to marry him,’ said Rose. She threw back her head. ‘I am carrying his child.’

‘Oh, Gawd,’ said Daisy from her corner.

The earl turned puce. ‘You rat!’ he shouted. ‘I should have you horse-whipped.’

Harry tried not to laugh. ‘Rose,’ he begged. ‘This won’t answer. Tell them the truth.’

Rose’s shoulders drooped. ‘Oh, well,’ she said. ‘I tried.’

‘You mean you’re not up the spout?’ demanded her father.

‘No. But I do think you should let me marry the captain,’ said Rose. ‘We could elope. How would you like that?’

‘Rose, please,’ begged Harry. ‘This is not helping.’

‘The subject is closed,’ roared the earl. ‘Rose, go to your room. You, Captain Cathcart, are not welcome in this house any more.’

When the earl and countess were left alone, Lady Polly asked her husband, ‘What if they do elope?’

‘So what? Save us the cost of a wedding.’

‘But the scandal!’

‘Only one more attached to Rose’s name. Oh, take her to a few parties and get her mind off Cathcart. There are plenty of respectable men out there.’

Upstairs, Rose said goodbye to Daisy again. ‘I hate leaving you,’ said Daisy, ‘but I’ve got to get back to my husband. I only came with you to see you settled in. Perhaps Aunt Elizabeth can help you.’

‘Aunt Elizabeth is a stickler for the conventions, but I can try. I’ll visit you as often as I can, Daisy. Ask Brum to get you a carriage to take you to Chelsea.’

Daisy gave Rose a fierce hug. She went downstairs and waited in the hall for the carriage to be brought round.

As she climbed into the carriage, she had an odd feeling of being watched. She stood with one foot on the step and looked around. There was a man with a barrel organ at a corner of the square, cranking out wheezy tunes, a nursemaid with a child, a footman walking a dog, but no one sinister-looking.