‘But it does, it does. Lord Martley will be here in an instant.’ Her voice suddenly lost a little of its certainty. ‘He must be.’

Lord Henfield ignored her, and, grabbing Henrietta’s parasol, charged, in a manner that would have been applauded in an infantryman of the line. He lunged towards the thoroughly frightened beast that was now baring yellow teeth, and still holding the straw rim of Caroline’s hat in its grip.

‘Untie the ribands, Miss Felbridge,’ cried Lord Henfield, jabbing at the lower monkey, and, after a moment of frozen indecision, she did so. Letting go of the parasol with one hand, and keeping his eyes engaged with those of the animal, his lordship held out his hand to Caroline, who grabbed it as though it were a lifeline, and pulled her away quite sharply, the hat remaining in one animal’s grasp, and the muslin of her skirt rending to leave a small portion in the hand of the other. He thrust her behind him, in a gesture Henrietta felt was a bit melodramatic, his own form acting as a shield, and began to open the parasol to distract the monkey as he reached to grab the hat. The furore had caused a degree of panic among the other onlookers, and one of the Tower staff came running up the stairs to find a semi-circle of people who were either having hysterics, or watching events as if it were a spectacle laid on for their amusement. Lord Martley, having arrived just too late to perform his act of bravery, was doing the decent thing and trying to calm down Lady Elstead, and begged Henrietta for smelling salts.

‘Smelling salts, my lord?’ Henrietta had eyes only for Lord Henfield. ‘I never carry such things.’

Lord Martley, understandably, felt that in this Miss Gaydon had failed him. He was trying to support a highly agitated lady who was drawing almost as much attention as the incident, and was receiving no assistance whatsoever. He would also far rather be the one protecting Miss Felbridge.

‘Stand away, please, nothing to see here,’ declared the official, in a nasal tone, which was foolish, since there was plenty to see. ‘If you would cease waving the parasol, sir, I will see if we can calm the animals.’

Lord Henfield did as instructed, but kept his hold on the hat. At which point, the monkey glared at him, opened its jaws wide in a gesture that seemed defiance, and then took a bite from the brim of the hat and let it go, so suddenly that his lordship took a step backwards to balance himself. A youth laughed.

‘Move on, please, now. The grizzly bear is just three cages along and we have a hyena.’ The official made it sound a special treat.

‘What’s a hyena?’ asked a child.