I was quite enjoying studying Fig. I could see that she was considerably put out watching Earl spreading heaps of her special Fortnum & Mason jam with gay abandon on his scone. Suddenly there were raised voices in the entrance hall and Mrs. Simpson swept in, looking less amused than my austere great-grandmother had done. Her usually immaculate coiffure was windswept and her silk outfit was streaked with rain.

“Wallis honey, you look terrible.” The countess rose to greet her.

Obviously Wallis didn’t appreciate the remark. She already knew she looked terrible and didn’t need anybody to point this out.

“Come and have a cup of tea to warm you up before you go change.” The countess took her arm and led her over to us.

“We’ve had an absolutely beastly day,” Wallis said. “And the storm was the least of it. My dears, something terrible happened. We were lucky to escape with our lives.”

“What on earth do you mean?” Babe asked.

“We were on our way back here, driving down the pass, when a damned great boulder came flying out of nowhere and struck us. Luckily it landed on the bonnet. A couple of feet in the wrong direction and David and I should both have been crushed. I tell you, my heart has only just started beating again. David was wonderfully calm. He said these things happen in the Highlands. ‘Then I can’t think why you choose to spend any time up here,’ I said. ‘I’ve never seen a more godforsaken place to begin with.’ He wasn’t thrilled with that remark and we had words. So all in all a most trying day.”

She took the teacup that was offered her and sipped gratefully. The other Americans made a terrific fuss of her. Even her husband was nice to her. But my thoughts were racing again. Another accident that could have killed the Prince of Wales. Then a new thought struck me. Maybe we had got it wrong: maybe it wasn’t the prince who was the target. Maybe someone was trying to eliminate Mrs. Simpson. I had seen enough American gangster films to know that people paid other people to take out an enemy. What if someone in the royal circle wanted to remove her permanently from the prince’s life? Or on the other hand, what if her husband was angry enough with the way he was being cheated to want to get rid of her without paying alimony?