I was glad when Belinda announced that she was tired, having not had much sleep the night before, and would everyone excuse her if she went up. I took my cue and followed her. At the top of the stairs she let out a sigh of relief. “I don’t think I could have taken much more, Georgie. What was Tony thinking, hinting that he had been to my mews? And reviving all that awful time with Colin.”

“How very sad,” I said. “You must have felt terrible.”

“The strange thing was that one didn’t. We were kids at the time, you know. It was just ‘poor old Colin’ and then we forgot about him.”

“What about his parents? His family?”

“I really don’t remember. I know they went home, instead of having a funeral service here, and the police interviewed us and told us we had behaved stupidly trying to outrun the tide. And then I went off to school in Switzerland and never thought about it again.”

As we reached the balcony at the top of the stairs Mrs. Mannering was waiting, appearing out of nowhere with that uncanny skill of hers. “I’ll send up Elsie right away, Miss Warburton-Stoke,” she said. “And I will personally assist you with your gown, Lady Georgiana.”

“You shouldn’t have waited up, Mrs. Mannering. I’m sure we could have managed to unhook each other.” I glanced at Belinda.

“It’s my job, my lady. I have never failed to do what was required of me. Not once in over thirty years.” She followed me into my bedroom. I felt quite strange as she lifted the pale silk over my head and I was standing before her in my underwear. I found myself wishing I had worn the slinky Parisian undies that Zou Zou had brought back for my trousseau, instead of my boring daily cotton. Mrs. Mannering laid the dress on my bed. “It suited you perfectly, my lady. Please do keep it. It was made to be worn by a person of quality.”

“I really couldn’t, Mrs. Mannering,” I said. “Besides, it’s not yours to give, is it? It belongs to the lady of the household now.”