‘But he was there at the time,’ Oxley pointed out.

‘So were the Runners and so is that man who wishes to claim the reward.’

‘Giles Clearwater?’

‘That makes three witnesses. If we dared to ask the Prince Regent to attend that would push the number up to four,’ said Mellanby. ‘We simply don’t need Paul Skillen to be there as well.’

‘But he’s put his name forward.’

‘Contrive a way to have it removed.’

‘It may be difficult.’

‘That’s what my father paid you for, wasn’t it?’ said the other, sharply. ‘You were retained to smooth out any difficulties. Start earning your fee.’

Oxley was offended. ‘Sir Roger wouldn’t have spoken to me like that.’

‘I’m in charge now, Oxley.’

‘He always called me by my first name,’ protested the other.

‘That’s changed.’

Hailing a cab, they asked to be taken back to the Clarendon Hotel. As the vehicle set off, Mellanby was decisive.

‘And I want to avoid any more meetings with Peter Skillen,’ said Mellanby. ‘The fellow is beneath contempt.’

‘Why did he wish to speak to you?’

‘Why do you think?’

‘Since you refused to let me stay,’ said Oxley, ‘I haven’t a clue.’

‘He taunted me about the fact that I don’t believe in my father’s radical agenda. I never did and I never will. What this country needs most is peace and stability. If it means stamping on a few toes to achieve those objectives,’ continued Mellanby, ‘then I’m all in favour of it happening. My father was an extraordinary man but he had a fatal softness of heart. He cared for people I regard as good-for-nothings. Peter Skillen is the same. He takes nonentities like Seth Hooper seriously.’

‘Hooper thought your father was a kind of god.’

Mellanby was harsh. ‘That’s not a mistake I’d ever make.’

‘You … didn’t really get on with him, did you?’

‘I saw the defects that he so cleverly hid from everyone else. You spent all that time trotting at his heels. What’s your opinion, Oxley? Did you really think that Sir Roger Mellanby was the Messiah he strove to be?’

‘Well,’ said the lawyer, weighing his words before uttering them, ‘your father was a gifted politician, but he was not without his foibles.’

Mellanby laughed. ‘Foibles?’

‘We have to make allowances for them.’