She looked at me and laughed. “That’s the way I always spoke to her. She knew that. It’s just the way I am. And I was actually quite fond of her, clueless though she was. I tell you, I’d like to catch the blighter that mowed her down. I’d strangle him with my bare hands.”

“If she’d wandered out into the road, as you say, he probably couldn’t have avoided hitting her.”

“But then why bugger off and leave her there to die? Why not summon the police and admit to it like a man?”

“Frightened to, maybe? Maybe he had black marks against him for reckless driving before and feared his license would be taken from him.”

She nodded. “Poor old Mavis.” She sighed. “And dashed inconvenient for me. Now I’m up here with no maid, only an idiot local girl who tried to iron my leather jacket.”

Hugo moved in on us. “I watched you land that plane this afternoon, Ronny. I must say you are magnificent. So when are you going to take me up?”

“If you’re not careful, Hugo, I might just tip you out,” she said, laughing. “I do love barrel rolls, you know. They are a great way to get rid of unwanted suitors.”

So the attraction was not mutual.

“How can you afford to run a plane?” I blurted out before I remembered that a lady never mentions money.

She shrugged. “I have sponsors. And one of the reasons that I enter all these damned air races is that they come with very nice cash prizes. I’m going to try solo to Australia this autumn. It’s never been done by a woman and the Daily Mail is coming up with a fat check if I succeed.”

“Do you have a good chance of succeeding?”

“Fair to middling, I’d say. There’s a lot of desert to be flown over. You come down in the middle of the Arabian Desert and that’s pretty much it. Nobody’s likely to find you before you run out of water.” She looked around the room. “Speaking of which, I’m dying of thirst. Isn’t there anything stronger than sherry around here?”

And she wandered off, leaving me alone. I wondered if I actually envied her or pitied her. It would be wonderful to be so daring and independent, of course, but then I pictured the loneliness and the likelihood of dying in the desert and was glad that I didn’t have her nerve.

Hugo was still lingering nearby. He sidled up to me. “I say,” he said, “this old place is rather fascinating, isn’t it? Awfully rich in history. So tell me, does it have a laird’s lug? I’ve heard about them but I’ve never actually seen one.”

“Yes, it does, actually.”