He stood up. I could see that my words had stung him and wondered if he had really thought that being Lady Dudley should have been enough for me regardless of the price I paid.

“How?” he demanded. “How will you achieve it? Will you persuade Forster as you persuaded Hyde? How did you do that? With your body?”

“That is none of your affair,” I said coldly, “when the entire world gossips of your exploits with Her Majesty.”

Robert made a sound remarkably like a growl but he subsided into his chair and glared at me from beneath lowered brows. “Go on,” he said curtly. “Finish your fairy tale. Tell me what happens next.”

“We place the body at the base of the stair,” I said, “face down, so it looks like a fall. I am spirited away to my new life. Anthony calls a couple of servants who recognise my clothing and will testify that I have had an accident. He then carries the woman to my chamber and locks the door. He formally identifies the body as mine and sends to tell you I have met with an untimely, tragic, but entirely innocent end.”

“And what will happen when the household returns and sees the corpse?” Robert spoke with heavy sarcasm. “Do I have to pay them all off or are you expecting they will suffer from a collective blindness that will prevent them from noticing this woman is not you?”

“Neither,” I said. I tried not to sound too pleased with myself. “They will not see the body,” I said simply. “It will already have been identified by someone who knew me. Why distress them with the sight of their dead mistress?”

Robert rolled his eyes. “There would have to be an inquest.”

“Of course,” I said. “But the jurors need not be known to me.” I paused a moment to allow him to digest that. “Why should they recognise my likeness?” I pressed the point. “A woman is dead. Anthony Forster tells them it is Lady Dudley. Why would they question?”

Robert was very still.

“To make all safe,” I finished, softly, “you could choose a man to be foreman of the jury. A stranger to me,” I added, “but one who is beholden to you—or to the Queen. There must be many such men anxious to oblige her...”

“A queen’s man...” Robert whispered the words. I thought he looked a little dazed.

“He would know nothing,” I said, “other than that it was in his interests to make sure all went smoothly with the inquest.”

He nodded. I could see that the flame of the idea had caught hold. All I had to do now was fan it into belief but I needed to tread carefully. Too much fire and I might scare him away from the idea. In my favour was the fact that he wanted to believe the plan would work because it could grant him his heart’s desire.

“It has the merit of being quite simple,” I said, “when you consider it. A woman is dead, identified as Lady Dudley. I will be gone to a new life, and will never trouble you again.”