‘I’m sorry, miss. I didn’t know that Sir Bartholomew had passed away.’

‘It’s all right, Jenny. You did right in coming for me.’

Jenny eyed her anxiously. ‘Ma would like to know who’s in charge now, miss. Lady Martin won’t speak to any of the servants and they don’t know what to do.’

‘I’ll go and see your mother, Jenny. I have to be practical and there will be funeral arrangements to make.’

‘I suppose we won’t be going to Warren House then?’

Kate managed a wry smile. ‘I think that Lady Lyndon and Ivy can manage without us. They’re both capable women and they will have to contend with Martha Boggis. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see it for myself.’

‘But is it safe for you to stay in town, miss?’

‘I don’t know and that’s the honest truth, but there’s nothing else I can do for the moment, anyway.’

‘Ma is in her office below stairs if you wish to speak to her, miss.’

‘Yes, you’re right, Jenny. I must start as I mean to continue. I’ll go and see her now.’

The house in Finsbury Square was in mourning. The clocks had been stopped at the assumed time of death, mirrors were covered in black veils and the curtains were drawn. Kate took her mother to Jay’s of Regent Street, a mourning warehouse, where they were both outfitted in black silk trimmed with crepe. Arabella barely spoke to Kate during their shopping expedition, and Kate’s efforts to comfort her mother were repulsed with a shrug.

With the help of Mrs Marsh and Jenny, Kate had everything organised down to the smallest detail, but on the day of the funeral Arabella refused to attend the church service. No matter how hard Kate tried to cajole, persuade or shame her mother into accompanying herself and Perry, Arabella would not be shaken.

In the end Kate left the house with Perry and the cortège proceeded to the church, which was packed with mourners. She was surprised by the number of people, mainly from the legal profession, who had taken the time and trouble to attend. Sir Bartholomew in life had not been an easy person to get on with, but it seemed that he was highly respected amongst his peers and Kate wished wholeheartedly that her mother had plucked up the courage to say a last farewell to her husband.

After the interment in the cemetery, Kate turned to Perry in desperation. ‘I have intended to invite some of Papa’s colleagues and friends back to the house, but with Mama in such a state I don’t think it’s a good idea.’