each of my pockets. Richard had a more substantial sword than his usual dress foil, and a pocketful of those wicked little knives with which he seemed to be so adept. He told me they were Italian, called stilettos, and about the only thing of worth he had brought back from the Grand Tour. “I hadn’t the heart for it at the time, but perhaps a repeat visit one day might produce more. Should you like that?”

I smiled at him. “I should like it much. I’ve often yearned to see more than my own native shores,”

“Then you shall,” he said warmly. I knew he was trying to lighten my apprehension. It didn’t work.

I hadn’t felt at all nervous as we rode together towards Penfold. However, when the roofline of the house loomed before us out of the horizon the bile rose in my throat. I knew if Richard suspected I was in the least worried, he might well send me home, so I fought to stay calm. I must see this through, for my own peace of mind, so the smile stayed on my face and I held my head up to the wind when we rode into the courtyard.

Carier took the horses to the back of the house, so they wouldn’t be seen by any casual caller. Then he would go up to the secret room and make sure no one was secreted there.

Someone let us in immediately, before we had time to sound the knocker. They must have seen us coming. A superior-looking footman in livery took us straight up to the study.

The house was quiet with most of the occupants absent, and our footsteps on the wooden stairs reverberated around the house. Terry waited for us. He didn’t stand when we entered, but leaned back in his chair, smiling broadly.

“Stay outside,” he said to the footman, and the man went out of the room to stand guard on the door.

Terry put his hand to his chin, and regarded us thoughtfully. “A pleasure to see you both. Won’t you sit down?”

Richard seated me and then himself, on two of the hard chairs available. It was a larger room than it had seemed from my prison on high, and well kept, smelling of lavender and polish. It would have been a pleasant room, if not for its occupant.

Seeing him again brought back my ordeal like a blow to the stomach, and I was glad I hadn’t eaten much that day, because I didn’t want to spoil the beautiful riding habit I’d borrowed from my sister. Terry’s body spilled out of his clothes, as though it tried to escape him; the gloating smile was as loathsome as I remembered. He poured some wine for us, though neither of us made a move to touch it.

“You owe Miss Golightly an apology,” said Richard, at his most glacial.

Terry’s smile was greasily gloating. “She told you, did she? I’m sorry she did; I would have liked to tell you myself. Cosy armful, ain’t she?”

Richard said nothing for the time being, just let him talk. Perhaps he wanted to see the man’s ugliness for himself. “Don’t suppose there’s any chance we could share her? No? Pity. Some men prefer to share, you know. I’ve often taken advantage of it myself.”

“I take it you’re not prepared to offer the apology I require?”

“No, on the whole I don’t think so. You’ve cost me a lot of money, my lord, and I might take it in kind.” He stood. He was armed; he must have been holding the gun all the time under the desk. Neither of us turned a hair. Richard had warned me to expect something of the kind.

The sound of a horse outside did make us start, however, not least Terry, who glanced behind him out of the window. “How cosy. Young Skerrit. Perhaps I’ll have all three of you seen to at the same time.” He raised his voice to the man outside. “Let him in.”

He kept his gun trained on us, and soon Tom was ushered in. He stared at us in surprise, but we merely smiled in greeting. We could have been in a fashionable drawing room, both of us careful not to reveal anything.

“Have you taken his weapons?” Terry demanded of the servant. In reply the servant took a brace of pistols out of his pocket, and let them drop back again.

“How pleasant to see you.” sneered Terry, once his man had gone back to his post. He was sure of his control over us. “So soon after your last visit, too. Though I shall remember you best doubled up on my floor, watching me as I played with my new toy.”

“You bastard!” Tom shot forward impulsively.

What stopped him wasn’t Terry, but Richard. Without raising his voice, his commanding, “Sit down, Tom,” had the required effect. Tom put a hand on the desk to stop his forward rush and stood, breathing heavily to regain his temper. Then he meekly fetched a chair and sat next to me, watching Terry.

“What stupidity made you come here?” Terry asked Richard then.

“Several reasons.” Richard crossed his legs, supremely at ease with this man, in control. “Mostly to kill you. But I’ve always found it helps to know what sort of person it is I’m to kill. I can’t think of many more people more deserving of it than you.”

“What a coincidence, since that’s precisely what I thought I might do with you. Shall we drink to it?” Terry poured Tom a glass of wine and placed it in front of him.

Terry returned to his side of the desk, still holding his pistol, picked up his glass, and held it to his lips. He held