He spread his arms wide. ‘It’s a peal of bells in itself.’

They shared a laugh. Sitting down together, they caught up with each other’s news. Hannah was fascinated to hear about his visit to Sir Marcus Brough and his subsequent encounter with Edmund Mellanby and Oxley. She was amused when she heard how Peter had come close to arrest.

‘I can see how it happened,’ she said. ‘After all this time, I still can’t always tell you apart.’

‘I’m the devilishly handsome one.’

‘And so is Peter.’

‘Charlotte can tell the difference between us immediately.’

‘Then I’ll have to ask her the secret.’

‘I want to hear your secret first,’ he said. ‘How did you teach that poor girl to master her emotions like that? When she first came here, she was a wreck.’

‘I tried to take her mind off her worries.’

‘Well, whatever you did, it seems to have worked.’

‘It was a two-way process, Paul. She was able to help me in return. You know that I’ve been fretting about that invitation to go to Brighton Pavilion.’

‘You keep changing your mind about it.’

‘Well, I didn’t know if it was a threat or a mark of distinction.’

‘And what do you think now?’

‘I think we should go,’ she said. ‘With you by my side, I’ll feel completely safe. In any case, how often will I get an invitation from the next king? This may be my one and only chance. I should seize it with both hands.’

Alone in her room, Dorothea knelt beside the bed and prayed for the salvation of Orsino Price’s soul. Eyes still closed, she thought about the times they’d spent together, the plans they’d made and the promises he’d given her. She couldn’t believe that her dreams had been snatched away so quickly. All that she had left were some precious memories of a love that had steadily deepened over the weeks they’d been together. A memory of a different kind then surfaced.

Back in the shooting gallery, Peter was telling Gully Ackford about his meeting with the wine merchant because he valued his friend’s opinion. Ackford gave it bluntly.

‘Mr Denley has something to hide,’ he said.

‘I agree. And I’ll warrant that he knows the name of every single person who buys his wine. It’s the sort of thing he’d commit to memory.’

‘Then conceal from you.’

‘Yes, Gully. He struck me as the kind of man who never confides in anyone, even his wife. Wine has made him wealthy and that’s all he cares about.’

‘Is he quiet, reclusive, self-centred?’

‘He’s all of those things.’

‘Then how did he have the spirit to challenge Sir Roger to a duel? It shows that he has a reckless streak in him.’

‘It was very nearly a suicidal decision.’

‘How did he learn that his wife had gone astray?’