“I can see you might have thought so. Do you always listen at doors?”

“No, but I did that day. Hardly surprising.”

Fox considered. “If I have understood you correctly, this conversation must have taken place some years ago. Why the long wait before coming to see me?”

“I couldn’t very well come waltzing into your office at the age of sixteen, could I?” Louise paused. “There’s another reason. You know the terms of my father’s will. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you for anything. He has told me that he intends to provide a dowry for me when I marry, but that the rest of his money will be used to provide for my mother, and that after that, the residue will go to some blood cousins. So being adopted isn’t quite the same, you see. The point is that I’m not an heiress.”

“You surely are not seeking to discover your real parents in the hope of monetary gain?”

“Not at all.” She gave him a quizzical look. “Are you good at mathematics, Mr. Fox?”

“Moderately.”

“Well, here is a very simple proposition. When this war is over, I’m sure everyone will be wanting to get married. But there’s a difficulty. The casualties have been so terrible that there won’t be enough men to go around, especially young men of my class. We all know that the casualty rate among young officers has been appalling. I dare say the heiresses will find husbands, unless they’re terribly ugly. And lots of girls will marry men they wouldn’t have looked at normally. The rest will have to remain spinsters, or become governesses if they haven’t the means. A few independent-minded women will find ways to fend for themselves.”

“I have the impression that you fall into that last category.”

“I think I probably do.” She smiled mischievously. “I am well aware, Mr. Fox, that to call a woman independent-minded is not usually a compliment.”

He smiled in turn. It seemed to him that any young man who didn’t want to marry this spirited young woman would be a fool. But she had a point.

“I don’t think you need despair of finding a husband,” he replied. “But you may have to be a little careful not to frighten them. Though there are some men,” he added, “interesting men perhaps, who find independent women attractive.”

“Well, my parents assume that I shall marry, anyway, and that then their work will be done. The idea of my earning a living is unthinkable to them. I know there’s been a lot of war work, but after things get back to normal … It’s not what people of our class do, is it?”

“Marriage isn’t so bad, you know.”

“Oh, I’m not averse to marrying, Mr. Fox, but I have to allow for the fact that I may not. And I think I want my life to be more of an adventure. Perhaps I can become a photographer, or go to America, or something like that.”