“Yes. You know the idea we were discussing last night? I’d like to explain it to you. It will concern your grandmother too, after all. When you go visit her, you can tell her all about it.”

He didn’t need much persuading. “That’s fine,” he said, trying not to sound too excited. “Come round.”

He gave her the address, cancelled his car, and put on a fresh pot of coffee.

Judy looked beautiful.

That was the first thing that registered.Tom noticed it with relief; ungallant of him, perhaps, but still. It would have been a blow for her beauty to evaporate with the harsh light of day.

He needn’t have worried. She was, on close inspection, still as firm and lithe as she had been under the moon, clad in a scarlet sheath. Today Judy wore another bold dress.

She kissed him on the cheek.

“You like them?” she touched one long fingernail to her ears. “They’re Mayberry.”

“Come in.” He showed her inside, proudly; he took pleasure as her eyes rounded at the luxury, the space, the high ceilings. “Of course, this is a rental,” he said. “Nothing to the château.”

“But that’s your mother’s.”

“Only for another couple of years. After that the whole estate will be mine. The stock, too.” He felt proud as he said it. “Coffee?”

“Please.”

“I don’t know if you should be wearing Mayberry earrings. They’re the enemy.” Tom thought of his mother. “The enemy without, at least.”

“Ah,” Judy said. “Well, that’s what I want to talk to you about.”

He served her coffee at the little table for two set under the window, plenty of cream and sugar. There was nothing to eat, but that didn’t matter. She was talking, in that fast, confident way the Americans have, sketching a plan that was immediately obvious, brilliant in its simplicity.

“And Mayberry would go for this?” Tom asked. He didn’t trouble to play it cool, not now. Not with what she was saying.

“Of course. You’ll never be in such a good position to dictate terms.” Judy leaned forward, her enthusiasm showing in her posture, in the gleam in her eyes, the tense set of her shoulders. “They’ve spent money on this deal. And their reputation. If they lose, Mayberry’s own stock will fall.”

“Then my mother’s party helped us.”

Judy nodded. “Her own success last night will strangle her.You see, it cannot be denied that from a purely commercial point of view, it was a masterstroke.”

“I thought it was tacky.”