“The spring before the Armistice. I remember that well. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The Germans must have chosen that. It’s very like them. They have quite orderly minds, you know. We still observe two minutes of silence on that date.”

“Does Peter have a namesake in the family?”

“Oh, no, dear. Walter’s son is named for his great-grandfather. My husband.”

Rutledge found himself at a loss.

“Of course, my husband’s grandfather was the black sheep in the family. He killed three men in duels and had to flee to the Continent for several years. My mother-in-law told me that it was feared he’d come home with an Italian wife, because he appeared to spend so much time in Venice. But in the end, he was sensible and married a girl from Dorset. Quite a good family too. Everyone was amazed that she’d accept the proposal of such a scoundrel.”

“Then the connection with Dorset was on your mother-in-law’s side, not the Tellers?”

“Didn’t I just tell you? You must pay attention, young man. My husband’s people were from Essex.”

“Thank you for your help, Mrs. Teller,” he said, rising. “I apologize again for disturbing you at this late hour.”

“But you haven’t had your tea, my boy. Surely you’ll stay for tea?” She reached for the small silver bell by her chair. “I like having someone call on me. Not many people do, these days. And Evelyn is dead, you know. I miss her so.”

The maid appeared at the door.

“Could we have tea, do you think?” Mrs. Teller asked, turning to speak to her.

“It’s late,” Rutledge said. “I was just on the point of leaving.”

The old woman’s face clouded. “Must you go? It’s lovely to have a guest for tea, and Rose was just on the point of bringing it in, weren’t you, my dear?”

She came forward and said to Mrs. Teller, “Of course I’ll bring it, but wouldn’t you prefer a nice warm bath first, and then your tea? There’s a flan left from your dinner.”

Rutledge forgotten, the old woman got to her feet and said, “That sounds quite nice. Thank you, dear.” She followed Rose to the door.

Rutledge said quietly to the maid, “I’ll see myself out.”