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July, sixteen hundred and forty three,’ he exclaimed, ‘the English Civil War came to Little Hodcombe. A Parliamentary force and a regiment for the King destroyed each other– and the village.’
    He made it sound like a party. ‘And you’re celebrating that ?’ the Doctor asked, puzzled by this feverish excitement.
    ‘And why not?’ Sir George’s words were thrown down like a challenge; as he removed his riding gloves he watched the Doctor closely for a reaction. ‘It’s our heritage,’ he continued.
    ‘It’s a madness,’ Jane exclaimed, unable to contain her impatience with such talk any longer.
    Hutchinson treated her to a sardonic, dismissive smile,
    ‘Miss Hampden disagrees with our activities.’
    ‘I can understand why,’ the Doctor said, looking at the sadistic enjoyment on Willow’s face.
    Irritated by their opposition, Sir George held out a chair for Jane, inviting her to sit down and keep quiet. Then, moving around the table to approach the Doctor, he looked him up and down and demanded, in a voice clipped with anger, ‘Who are you?’
    ‘I’m known as the Doctor.’ The Doctor blandly endured Sir George’s examination, aware of his puzzlement at the frock coat, cricket pullover and sprig of celery in his buttonhole,
    ‘Are you a member of the theatrical profession?’ Sir George finally asked.
    The Doctor smiled. ‘No more than you are.’
    ‘Aha!’ Sir George laughed at the joke, but his sideways glance at Wolsey was humourless, hinting that these intruders might turn out to be more of a nuisance than at first appeared. Then he glared sharply into the Doctor’s eyes. ‘How did you get to the village?’
    ‘Through the woods, via the church,’ the Doctor bluffed.
    ‘That’s where found him, sir,’ Willow confirmed. Sir George was silent for a moment. He studied his gloves, flicking then against his hand. When he spoke again his voice was quiet and deliberate, and contained more than a hint of threat. ‘I would avoid the church if I were you,’ he said. ‘It’s very dangerous. It could fall down at any minute.’
    ‘So I noticed.’
    ‘However,’ Sir George smiled, now deliberately lightening the tone of their conversation, ‘since you’re here you must join in our game. It’s our final battle.’
    ‘Do you know, I’d love to,’ the Doctor replied, equally amiably. His relaxed voice disguised a rapidly increasing nervous tension, for he was gearing himself for action. ‘But first I must find Tegan and Turlough. And Tegan’s grandfather – I gather he’s disappeared. Good day,’ he concluded, and with a single movement of his arm swept maps, papers and pistol from the table before turning on his heel and running for the door.
    The lightness of his tone had fooled the others completely and this sudden explosion of activity took them all by surprise. All Sir George could do was shout, ‘Wait!
    Wait!’ and by the time Willow had dived for the pistol and levelled it at the doorway, the Doctor had gone.
    ‘Wait!’ Sir George shouted for a third time. But he knew he was wasting his breath, and when Willow turned to him and told him that Tegan was Verney’s granddaughter, his face set into stone. All the affected bonhomie with which he had addressed the Doctor vanished completely.
    ‘Double the perimeter guard,’ he snapped. ‘He mustn’t get out of the village.’ Then a new thought struck him and his smile returned. ‘And help him find Verney’s granddaughter...’
    ‘Right! Willow snapped his heels together.
    ‘I’ve something rather special in mind for her,’ Sir George grinned. The look of eager anticipation on Willow’s face showed that he fully understood all the implications of that remark. Sir George turned to Jane. She had watched these proceding with increasing concern and now registered her disapproval again: ‘Detaining people against their will is illegal, Sir George. The Doctor and his friends included.’
    Hutchinson leaned down over the