‘First, it was Paul Skillen, treating me as if I was a suspect in a murder enquiry. No sooner had he gone than his brother, Peter, came snapping at my heels. You had no right to give them our address, Kitty.’

‘I didn’t send either of them.’

‘Don’t lie. They were dispatched by you.’

‘That’s not true. I admit that I answered a few questions from Paul Skillen, then I sent him on his way. As for his brother, I didn’t even know that he existed. I certainly didn’t meet this Peter Skillen myself.’

‘They’re two of a kind – twin brothers and twin nuisances.’

‘Well,’ said Kitty, ‘I won’t pretend that I’m pleased to see you but, while you’re here, you might as well sit down.’

Denley gave her a long stare before lowering himself into a chair.

‘How is business?’ she asked, sitting down herself.

‘It continues to thrive.’

‘So it should. Half the nobility get their wine from you.’

‘Don’t exaggerate.’

‘Buying and selling were the only two things you could do well.’

He winced. ‘Let’s not descend to insults,’ he said. ‘How are you?’

‘Do you really care?’

‘You’re still my wife, Kitty.’

‘Oh, no, I’m not. I left you a long time ago, Hugh. Because you had your head in your account books, you never even noticed.’

‘People still ask after you.’

‘What do you tell them?’

‘I tell them the truth,’ he said, awkwardly. ‘I miss you.’

Her eyelids narrowed. ‘I can’t say that the feeling is mutual.’

‘There’s no need for us to fall out, Kitty.’

‘We already have,’ she said, acidly, ‘and it was all because of the foul accusation you hurled at me about Sir Roger Mellanby. I hardly knew the man.’

‘I saw the way he looked at you.’

‘Lots of men look at me that way, Hugh. It’s in their nature. I ignore them in the same way that I ignored Sir Roger. You said earlier that people still ask after me. Well, it may interest you to know that some of the men amongst them do more than simply enquire about me.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘How they found out my new address, I don’t know, but two of your friends took the trouble to call on me to see if I was – in the words of one – managing without the company of a man.’

‘Give me their names,’ he yelled, angrily.

‘I’m not having you fight any more duels, Hugh.’

‘I have the right to know.’

‘With regard to me,’ she said, ‘you don’t have any rights at all.’ She waited until his wrath slowly subsided, then she pointed a finger at him. ‘You came in here to hurl an unjust accusation against me. Let me ask you one question.’

‘What is it?’

‘Were you in any way involved in the murder of Sir Roger Mellanby?’