‘Why did she leave?’

‘She’s gone back home, Paul. She felt that the best thing for her was a break from acting and has withdrawn from the production of Measure for Measure. It was a bold decision − and a wise one, in my view.’

‘As long as she’s in London, she’ll be brooding about Orsino Price.’

‘He won’t dominate her mind quite so much in Lincolnshire. When she feels ready to come back, I promised Dorothea that I’d speak to some theatre managers on her behalf. She’s too good an actress to lose from the profession. But what’s been happening?’ she went on, appraising him. ‘You seem to be in a happy mood.’

‘I’m in an exultant mood, Hannah. I made an important arrest today.’

He told her about the way that he’d been involved in the chase after Kinnaird and how he’d helped to expose Scattergood’s fraudulent scheme. His major news, however, concerned his brother.

‘Peter did even better than me,’ he freely acknowledged. ‘He not only met and overpowered the assassin, he also arrested the person who hired him.’

‘Was it one of those politicians?’

‘No, it wasn’t. In fact, it wasn’t a man at all. It was Mrs Denley. She’s very resourceful. Having been seduced by Sir Roger Mellanby with the promise of one day becoming his wife, she found out that she was not the only woman in London familiar with his bed. What galled her most, Peter said, was that her rivals were all much younger than her. You can imagine how she felt,’ he continued. ‘What are those lines from one of Congreve’s plays? Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d/Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d − I couldn’t have put it better myself.’

‘So the Radical Dandy was simply a philanderer?’

‘No, Hannah, give the man his due. What happened in his private life doesn’t invalidate his achievements in the political sphere. He gave a voice to people who are unjustly denied one, and will always be remembered for that. When he stood up to speak, he was utterly fearless.’

‘I wish that I could be like that,’ she said.

‘And so you shall.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘You’re the finest actress of your generation and you live with someone who adores you. I’m not letting you be at the beck and call of a fat, ugly, lascivious man who thinks that he can compel you to do anything he wants.’

‘But I’ve already accepted his invitation.’

‘You were forced into doing so, Hannah. That’s deplorable.’

‘Well, I can’t get out of it now.’