“Oh, crikey,” I said. “I wonder if they’ll be able to run the Lovey Chase in this weather.”

Queenie put down the tray on the bedside table. “I’m sorry I barged in on you last night,” she said. “I should have scarpered off and left you to it. He’s a bit of all right, ain’t he? The cat’s whisker, I’d say.” And she gave me a wink.

“Queenie, I doubt that any other lady’s maid in the world would speak to her mistress the way you do.”

“Like what, miss?” she asked. “I was only having a nice little chat with you. Friendly, like.”

I was about to say that we were not friends, she was my servant. But I couldn’t do it. I got out of bed and sighed. I had to accept that she would never learn, that she would never be employable elsewhere and that I was stuck with her.

“It’s going to be freezing watching that race,” I said. “You’d better put out my warmest jumper and my tartan trousers. This is one of the occasions when I wish I owned a fur coat.”

“You could always borrow mine, miss,” she said.

I tried to keep a straight face. Queenie’s ancient fur coat was mangy and spiky and made her look like an aged hedgehog. “Awfully good of you, Queenie, but I think not,” I said.

I was in the midst of getting dressed when a bell rang in the hallway outside my door. “One hour to the start of the chase,” Lady Hawse-Gorzley’s powerful voice called. “Everyone needs a hearty breakfast today so get a move on.”

I finished dressing and went downstairs; I met Darcy going into the breakfast room.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, a challenging smile in his eyes.

“I did, thank you.” I noticed he was dressed in thick corduroy trousers and a big fisherman’s jersey. “You’re not going to run the race in those clothes, are you?”

“I have my racing gear on underneath,” he said. “And I will not reveal it until I really have to. Frankly, I’d like to back out, but it would be rather letting the side down.”

We helped ourselves to a generous breakfast and joined others at the table. The mood was remarkably cheerful considering what had happened the previous night. Johnnie Protheroe came to sit beside me. “You’ve heard the news, have you? Captain Sechrest called in on his way from the hospital this morning. Sandy has some nasty burns but they are not life threatening. She’s going to be all right.“