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social experiment, if you like. She’s to pretend you’re her brother, to give you a week in the country as part of the family. I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell her the truth.‛
    ‚Dinner is in half an hour,‛ Lady Caroline said. ‚Do you eat venison?‛ She sniffed.
    ‚Perhaps you’d like to shower before you eat? I’ll show you to your room.‛
    Sir David stood up. ‚You’ve got a lot of reading to do. I’m afraid I have to go back to London tomorrow—I have lunch with the president of France—so I won’t be able to help you.
    But, as I say, if there’s anything you don’t know…‛
    ‚Fiona Friend,‛ Alex said.
    Alex had been given a small, comfortable room at the back of the house. He took a quick shower, then put his old clothes back on again. He liked to feel clean but he had to look grimy—
    it suited the character of the boy he was supposed to be. He opened the first of the files. Sir David had been thorough. He had given Alex the names and recent histories of just about the entire family, as well as photographs of vacations, details of the house and stables in Mayfair, the apartments in New York, Paris, and Rome, and the villa in Barbados. There were newspaper clippings, magazine articles … everything he could possibly need.
    A gong sounded. It was seven o’clock. Alex went downstairs and into the dining room. The room had six windows and a polished mahogany table long enough to seat fifteen. But only the three of them were there: Sir David, Lady Caroline, and Fiona. The food had already been served, presumably by a butler or cook. Sir David gestured at an empty chair. Alex sat down.
    ‚Fiona was just talking about Soloman,‛ Lady Caroline said. There was a pause. ‚Soloman is a horse. We have lots of horses.‛ She turned to Alex. ‚Do you ride?‛
    ‚Only my bicycle,‛ Alex said.
    ‚I’m sure Alex isn’t interested in horses,‛ Fiona said. She appeared to be in a bad mood. ‚In fact, I doubt if we have anything in common. Why do I have to pretend he’s my brother? The whole thing is completely—‛
    ‚Fiona…,‛ Sir David muttered in a low voice.
    ‚Well, it’s all very well having him here, Daddy, but it is meant to be my Easter vacation.‛
    Alex realized that Fiona must go to a private school. Her term would have ended earlier than his. ‚I don’t think it’s fair.‛
    ‚Alex is here because of my work,‛ Sir David continued. It was strange, Alex thought, the way they talked about him as if he weren’t actually there. ‚I know you have a lot of questions, Fiona, but you’re just going to have to do as I say. He’s with us only until the end of the week. I want you to look after him.‛
    ‚But he’s a city boy!‛ Fiona insisted. ‚He’s going to hate it here. And anyway, how can pretending he’s my brother help you with your supermarkets?‛
    ‚Fiona…‛ Sir David didn’t want any more argument. ‚It’s what I told you. An experiment.
    And you will make him feel welcome!‛
    Fiona picked up her glass and looked directly at Alex for the first time since he had come into the room. ‚We’ll see about that,‛ she said.
    The week seemed endless. After only two days, Alex was beginning to think that Fiona was right. He was a city boy. He had lived his whole life in London and felt utterly lost, suffocating in the big green blanket of the countryside. The estate went on for as far as the eye could see, and the Friends seemed to have no connection with the real world. Alex had never felt more isolated. Sir David himself had disappeared to London. Lady Caroline did her best to avoid Alex. Once or twice she drove into Skipton—the nearest town—but otherwise she seemed to spend a lot of time gardening or arranging flowers. And Fiona…
    She had made it clear from the start how much she disliked Alex. There could be no reason for this. It was simply that he was an outsider, and Fiona seemed to mistrust anything that didn’t belong to the miniature world