He walked round the car and opened the rear door, gazing in and trying to imagine their under housemaid sitting there with a chauffeur to drive her around. A ripple of concern went through him again, as it always did when he thought about her. From a life of wealth and privilege she had plunged into the harsh world of the working classes. The shock must have been terrible, and yet it was what she had chosen to do, rather than fall in with the plans of her obnoxious aunt. Poor thing. She hadn’t had any choice, but what courage she must have. The door closed with a soft click, and he shoved his hands in his pockets, lost in thought.

All their efforts to find her had been fruitless, and, to be honest, that was only to be expected. London was a huge place, and it was doubtful if she was even still here. Edna had said that someone had taken her in, so she could be anywhere. The Templeton School was in Kent, and she might know someone in that area. Perhaps he’d drag Luke along there one day. His brother would jump at the chance to visit a girls’ school, he thought wryly.

‘Take your hands out of your pockets,’ Jake ordered as he came and stood beside him.

Matt instantly forgot everything else in his eagerness to work on the Rolls-Royce with his boss.

John was late arriving home that evening, immediately joining them in the drawing room. ‘I’ve been curious about Mr Winford, so I contacted Henry Eddison at the Manhattan Bank, and asked if he’d known him.’

‘You shouldn’t have done that.’ Louise didn’t look pleased.

‘It’s all right, Mother. I made it a very casual inquiry in a chatty letter to Henry.’ John took the cup of coffee his mother had poured for him and sat down. ‘He didn’t know him personally, but, if this is Eugenie’s father, then her future could be very difficult.’

‘It can’t be much worse than it is, surely?’ Matt said.

‘I’m afraid it can.’ John took a letter from his pocket and flicked through it, frowning deeply. ‘He said that Cyrus D. Winford was a respected broker. He understood that he had a wife and two children – boys – in America, and his death must have been a terrible shock to them.’

‘What!’ Their father was clearly shocked. ‘Does that mean Eugenie’s mother was his mistress?’

‘He could be a bigamist and have gone through a ceremony with each of them,’ Luke pointed out.

‘I do hope not,’ their mother said, her eyes full of sadness. ‘That poor girl could be illegitimate.’

‘I think we ought to redouble our efforts to find her,’ Matt said. ‘After all we did throw her out, so we do have some responsibility towards her.’

‘You shouldn’t have let me do that, Louise.’ Her husband looked uncomfortable.