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days?'
    'The city is well. But the spirits of its citizens are generally low.'
    'Because of the collapse in South Sea stock?'
    'Indeed. I see you're well informed.'
    'My husband is a man of business, Mr Spandrel. How should I not be? Besides, the South Sea Company has scarcely fewer victims here than in London. And those who have not thrown their money down that drain have consigned it to the pit of the Mississippi Company instead. Did London hold itself aloof from that?'
    'I think not.' Spandrel had read various references to the Mississippi Company in the third — or fourth-hand newspapers that were his only informants on the world. It had been France's imitation of the South Sea scheme. Or was it the other way round? He could not rightly remember. 'But it seems... you know more about such matters than I do.'
    'You would be unique among my husband's business associates if that were the case.'
    'But I'm not his associate, madam. Merely the servant of one.'
    'And would your master be Sir Theodore Janssen?'
    Spandrel flinched with surprise. He had not expected to be seen through so easily.
    'Forgive me, Mr Spandrel.' Mrs de Vries smiled at him reassuringly. 'The deduction required no great acuity on my part. Sir Theodore is my husband's oldest friend. My husband mentioned receiving a letter from him recently. Sir Theodore lives in London. You come from London. And Mr Zuyler hastens off to fetch Mr de Vries from the midst of his mercantile deliberations. You see? Simplicity itself.'
    'Only when you explain it.'
    'You flatter me.' Her smile broadened and Spandrel realized that flattery had indeed been his intention. Then there came a stirring of the latch. 'Ah. Here's Geertruid with our tea.'
    Geertruid it was, somewhat out of humour to judge by the sighs that accompanied her arrangement of the cups, plates, spoons and saucers. A rich-looking cake had arrived along with the tea and, as soon as Geertruid had left, Mrs de Vries cut him a large slice and watched approvingly as he tasted it.
    'Travel makes a man hungry, does it not, Mr Spandrel?'
    'It does, madam, I confess. And this is... excellent cake.'
    'Good. You must eat your fill. There is no need for a man to go hungry in this house. My husband's prudence in matters of business has served us well of late.'
    'I'm glad to hear it.'
    'There is a saying in Dutch he often quotes. “Des waereld's doen en doolen is maar een mallemoolen.” “The ways of the world are but a fool's merry-go-round.” But, if that is the case, I often think, it begs the question: are we all fools, then? For we must all live in the world.'
    'I'm not sure there can be an answer to such a question.'
    'Not one we would wish to hear, at any rate. Quite so. Let us try another, then. How long have you been in Sir Theodore's service, Mr Spandrel?'
    'Not long at all.'
    'And before?'
    'I am a mapmaker by profession.'
    'Indeed? I wonder you do not pursue your profession.'
    'Times are hard. And in hard times people decide they can live without maps.'
    'But without a map, there is always the danger of going astray.'
    'As many do.'
    'How did you take up your profession?'
    'From my father.'
    'An eminent mapmaker?'
    'A prosperous one — for a while.'
    'My husband has a Mercator Atlas. Is that the sort of mapmaking of which we speak?'
    'Not exactly. I map... closer to home.'
    'Ah. Then you may be interested in this.' Mrs de Vries rose and moved to the map drawers Spandrel had eyed earlier. She pulled one open, slid out a sheet and laid it on the table. 'A recent acquisition. Come and look at it.'
    Spandrel set down his tea and joined her by the table. A map of London lay before him; one he well recognized as the work of a competitor.
    'Is it good?' Mrs de Vries asked.
    'It's... accurate. If a little... out of date.'
    'Out of date?' Mrs de Vries laughed lightly. 'I shall look forward to teasing my husband with that remark.'
    'All maps are out of date to some degree.'
    'Then should we discard them, like an old