‘If she is a murderess, is Lady Rose is any danger?’

‘I shouldn’t think so. Why?’

‘I think that perhaps Thomson went to considerable lengths to persuade Jeffrey to make her look guilty. She must be deranged and she may have a personal vendetta against her.’

Harry looked uneasy. ‘I am barred from her home. I’ve hired two detectives. One of them, Bernie King, is very young and sharp. I think I’ll put him on to following her discreetly.’

* * *

Rose’s mind was in a turmoil over the rival attractions of Roger and Harry. She decided the next morning to slip out of the house, go to Harry’s office and ask him outright if he loved her and if they were getting married and what the scene at Lady Glensheil’s had all been about.

She escaped from the house when Brum wasn’t looking, knowing the butler would immediately inform her parents.

She hailed a cab and gave the driver instructions as to how to get to Harry’s office in Buckingham Palace Road.

Her heart was beating hard. It was only when she descended the carriage that a wave of helplessness engulfed her. Harry would say that of course he wanted to marry her and then he would go on behaving as usual. And he had not even troubled to tell her what all that fuss at the tea party had been about.

Upstairs, Bernie King had just received a phone call from Harry, who was still at home, ordering him to follow Lady Rose. Bernie was a thin, black-haired man in his early thirties. He had been in the police force but had been attracted by Harry’s advertisement. He grabbed his coat and glanced down from the window. He knew what Lady Rose looked like, Harry’s secretary having provided him with a photograph from a society magazine.

To his surprise he saw her standing on the pavement outside. He ran lightly down the stairs. He was glad that Lady Rose did not know what he looked like.

She was climbing into a cab. Bernie hailed another cab and followed her. He saw her entering her home. He moved a little way around the square where he could observe the house without being obvious.

At noon, when he was beginning to feel thoroughly bored, he saw a smart motor car drive up and a handsome fair-haired man descended and went into the house. Bernie groaned. If the young man had come to take Lady Rose driving, how could he follow?

The square was deserted. He strolled past the car, looking to right and left. When he came abreast of the car, he leaped into the rumble – that rear seat for luggage and finding a carriage rug, pulled it over himself. If he was discovered, he would need to rely on his boss to get him out of trouble.

After ten minutes, he felt the car dip and the man’s voice say, ‘I thought we would take a spin down by the river.’