“Oh, miss. I ain’t half glad to see you,” she said. “I was scared out of me wits. I kept hearing noises outside, like someone or something prowling around and squeaks and heavy breathing. . . .”

“You’re quite safe now, Queenie. There are three of us here and my mother’s maid may be returning too.”

“Thank gawd for that,” she said. Then she noticed Darcy. “So where’s yer mum then?”

“My mother worried about being far from the main house, given the circumstances,” I said.

“Oh, that’s lovely, ain’t it. Real nice,” she said. “Everyone else is scared to come down here, out of the way, but you send me down here alone.”

“That’s because no killer would want to murder you, Queenie,” I said. “Now you can go to sleep in peace. Mr. O’Mara will be staying.”

I noticed the twinkle in her eyes. “Oh yeah?”

“To protect us,” I added.

I think I heard her chuckling as she went off to bed. I undressed in the bathroom, changing into my new silk pajamas and came back to find Darcy had shed his dinner jacket and tie and was lying on one of the beds. One small table lamp gave the room a cozy glow.

“You look very smart,” he said. “Did you buy those in case Craig Hart came to visit?”

“Shut up about Craig Hart,” I said. “I do believe you were jealous.”

“Just a little.”

I went over and perched on the bed beside him. “You never have to be, you know. There is only one man in my life.”

“And to think you’re sitting on my bed, in baby blue silk pajamas and I’m going to refrain from doing anything more than kissing you good night—you must have turned me into a reformed character.”

I bent over him and kissed his forehead. “You know I’d marry you now and be happy in a flat in Bayswater.”

“But I wouldn’t be happy, and neither would you in the long run. You have a right to live the sort of life you were supposed to live, Georgie. Nice big house in the country. Plenty of servants. Your proper station in life. I’m not going to make you into a domestic drudge.” His arm came around my shoulder. “That’s why that role in the film seemed like such a great opportunity. I’d have been paid handsomely. Maybe I’d have become a film star and made enough to keep you in the style you deserve.”

“And every woman in the world would have thrown herself at you. I saw the way Stella was looking at you. These actors don’t hold to the same moral code as people like us. Look at my mother! So I’m glad the film probably won’t be finished now.”