“Of course I did not reveal that we were attempting to solve the mystery of the bones, only that we had between us worked out an approximate time when the bones had been put there—something that impressed Lady Hartley very much. It was entirely independently that she surmised that Clifton Bradshaw was the most likely perpetrator, which I may have mentioned we agreed with, though we had found no evidence strong enough to convict him. Being a woman of high principle, Lady Hartley declared that she would like to speak to Bradshaw herself, and so we are going to pay him a visit tomorrow to see how he responds to her questioning. Anyway, do tell me more about this infamous copse.”

“You are going up to Top Withens with Lady Hartley!” Anne exclaimed. “You are detecting with another!”

“This is typical Charlotte,” Emily said, propelled to her feet by an explosion of temper. “She is always so keen to improve her lot that no sooner does she make the acquaintance of a fine lady than she has dropped us, Anne. For we are no use to her social ambitions. Charlotte is a high-society detector now!”

“That is not it at all,” Charlotte said, blushing furiously. “It was only that she was so interested and engaging. And she had filled her life with such purpose that it made me consider how very little I have done with mine. Catherine—”

“Oh, it’s Catherine now, is it?” Emily scoffed.

“Catherine has made herself someone important and influential—someone men of power listen and defer to—purely by her force of intellect and personality,” Charlotte went on. “She is admirable in so many ways, and yes, I suppose I am guilty of wanting to impress her. Indeed, I suppose that I thought it could not hurt us as we embark upon our creative endeavours to have a patron in high places who might champion our works.”

“Our works, Charlotte?” Emily asked her. “Or yours?”

“Ours, of course!” Charlotte looked hurt, and Anne was worried to see her sister so overwrought and highly strung, her colour high and her eyes glittering.

“Charlotte sharing confidences with Lady Hartley might not sit easily with us, Emily,” Anne intervened, “but she is our sister, and we must trust that she has only the best intentions for us all and this mystery. In fact it seems to me that to shock Clifton Bradshaw with a visit from Lady Hartley is a good idea—it is always useful to see how a suspect behaves in unexpected circumstances. We might have preferred it if Charlotte had revealed her strategy to us before implementing it, but I can see that she has, in fact, been very shrewd.”

Emily was not persuaded, but at least she said nothing more, simply drawing her writing slope towards her as an announcement that she would not be conversing any further this evening.