‘Yes, Mother… I did.’ Edward did not regret his actions. ‘It’s high time that Grandfather was made to see sense.’ He took Martha’s hand gently from his person. ‘I hope I am never forced to take sides between them, because I honestly could not say where my sympathies would lie!’

‘Really, Edward!’ Martha’s face had grown so red it seemed she might explode. ‘You can’t know what you are saying!’

‘What I am “saying”, Mother, is that my father… your husband…’ he felt the need to remind her ‘… is one of the few people who enjoys Emma’s confidence. What I am also saying is that she has suffered a very tragic life… we all know that. It would be useless to deny it.’ He had seen his mother open her mouth to intervene and at once he flashed her a warning glance. ‘You least of all cannot deny the truth of it!… Only very recently she lost her son in a tragic accident. Yet still Grandfather heaps loathing and retribution on her head. One of them must be made to see sense.’ Seeing his mother’s expression harden, he looked beyond her to the tall, dignified woman who had made no remark throughout, but who had listened with great interest. ‘Grandmother… surely you agree? A family must not fight within itself.’

At this point Agnes Crowther stepped forward, a regal figure with greying hair bound tight to her head with expensive mother-of-pearl combs and, as always, her long slim hands held together in a posture of prayer. She made no answer to Edward’s question. Instead she turned towards the dumpy, plain figure beside her and in a patronizing voice, instructed, ‘Leave Edward to me, dear… you go and pacify your father.’

‘Of course,’ Martha replied, nodding her head in a serious manner and going quickly towards the study, her voluminous skirts swishing angrily against her ankle boots as she quickened her step.

Agnes Crowther watched her daughter disappear into the study and waited until the door was closed before addressing her grandson. ‘Your grandfather is unlikely to heed your advice, I’m afraid,’ she told him with a half-smile, which belied her delight in the fact that her husband did not always persuade this young man to his own thinking. ‘He does not listen to anything I say… and as you should know, he will insist on doing things his own way… however unpleasant the outcome.’

‘So you’re of the same opinion?’ Edward asked, glad to have at least one ally in this spiteful business. ‘You believe the outcome will be unpleasant?’

Agnes Crowther gave a small, cynical laugh. ‘Oh, my dear Edward… there is no doubt in my mind at all!’ she told him. ‘But whom will it be more “unpleasant” for, I wonder? After all, between you and me, Emma Tanner has a very good case. On the other hand, your grandfather has a number of excellent contacts… both in the legal world… and in the criminal world.’ Here she smiled at the disbelief on his face. ‘Don’t feel too sorry for him, Edward, because he is not a man to be crossed lightly. Rather, he is a man who will employ any means in order to rout his enemies.’