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find it interesting to observe Mr Grimston.
    ‘But what makes you think him dangerous?’ she enquired.
    ‘Ah, that,’ said Sir Bohun, ‘would be telling! I may hint that his attitude is not unconnected with Linda Campbell, but possibly I mentioned that before. Let us change the subject. He will be safe enough and happy enough to-night, poor fellow, pitting his wits against those of Bell and myself. Bell, I must say, has been invaluable in arranging all this.’
    Bell came in at this moment to report that the ladies felt at a decided disadvantage compared with the gentlemen because their costumes were a nuisance, even a danger, on the stairs. Mrs Dance, reported Bell, was particularly concerned about her bustle.
    ‘Nobody asked her to wear a bustle,’ snapped Sir Bohun. ‘No bustle is mentioned in the text, so far as I am aware, as being part of any lady’s costume. Nobody but Brenda Dance would have thought of wearing such a tasteless and frivolous appendage.’
    ‘I regret to inform you that my secretary, Miss Menzies, thought of it,’ remarked Mrs Bradley. ‘Her sense of humour is occasionally elementary, I am afraid.’
    ‘May the ladies change into more convenient costumes, Sir Bohun?’ pursued Bell.
    ‘I suppose so, but they won’t be allowed extra time. What about Young Holder? Is he warm enough in his shirt and trousers?’
    ‘He has assumed a dressing-gown, Sir Bohun.’
    ‘Oh, well, that’s reasonable, I suppose. All right. Pop back, there’s a good fellow. You know what cheats these people are if you take your eyes off them!’ Having disposed of the probity of his invited guests and his trusted employees thus, he sighed with relief as the door closed behind Bell, and added, ‘What do you think of Manoel? He is a wealthy man now. He has gone into the bull-fighting racket and cleans up to the tune of a thousand pounds an afternoon, or so he tells me. Shouldn’t have thought there was that much money in the game. I’m a bit – he’s rather a problem at the moment. His mother’s still alive, you know, and it’s only a question of time before somebody lets the cat out of the bag and tells him I may be thinking of marrying – and not his mother.’
    ‘Not his mother? Is he fond of her?’
    ‘He’s haughty, like lots of ’em out there, and he doesn’t like being a bastard.’
    ‘Who would? I should think, from what I have seen of him, that he might be a more implacable enemy than Mr Grimston, to whom you referred a moment ago,’ said Mrs Bradley reasonably.
    ‘Oh, well, let’s talk about something else,’ said Sir Bohun uneasily. ‘What are you reading just now?’

CHAPTER 3
UNSCRIPTED APPEARANCE OF AN EXTRA
    ‘… I crave but four days’ respite: for the which you are to do me both a present and a dangerous courtesy.
    Pray, sir, in what?
    In the delaying death.’
    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE – Measure for Measure
*
    IT DID NOT take Laura long to change into a suit and some comfortable shoes. She was prepared to enter the competition with zest, not for the sake of the prize, which, in the face of what she supposed would be the concentrated opposition of the tutor Grimston and the dark-horse nature of the rest of the field, she hardly expected to gain, but because it was a unique opportunity to explore most of the house.
    Exploring old houses was a hobby of hers, and Sir Bohun’s home, although not the exciting affair it might have been, in her eyes, if it had been built a hundred and fifty years earlier, nevertheless offered, in the way of staircases, fireplaces, carved overmantels, and cupboard doors, much that was both interesting and delightful. It belonged to the late seventeenth century, a period of which she knew a considerable amount so far as its domestic architecture was concerned.
    The spectacle of a large stuffed goose, a white one with a barred tail, recalled her to the contemplation of the paper and pencil in her hand. This happened as soon as she came out of her room, for