‘Clarissa, m’lady. Née Vuillaumy.’

Lady Grylls cupped her ear. ‘Villainy? How terribly interesting. Suggestive, wouldn’t you say? Clarissa is apparently one of those women who don’t improve with age, only learn new ways of misbehaving themselves. She has a son, but he is not Roderick’s son.’

‘Lady Remnant has a son from a previous marriage, m’lady. The young man’s name is Stephan Farrar.’

‘Stephan, that’s right. I understand he takes drugs. Same as your boy used to do, only worse, much worse, I think. Gerard Fenwick is Roderick’s only brother. I used to be great chums with Felicity Fenwick’s mama. Gerard will be – what?’

‘The thirteenth earl. According to Debrett’s.’

‘It seems to me you know too much about the aristocracy, Provost, it’s positively unhealthy. You need to get yourself a girlfriend. Gerard writes, or tries to. Everybody nowadays seems terribly keen on becoming a writer. Can’t understand it myself. My niece-in-law writes detective stories, though she says her advances are staggeringly small. Felicity dabbles in interior decorating and sells furniture, I believe.’

‘The new Lady Remnant has a shop in South Kensington, m’lady.’

‘The extraordinary things you know, Provost. You should be on Mastermind. The Fenwicks are frightfully nice. As it happens, Hugh’s got his eye on Felicity’s Damascus chest, so it’s a small world. I have an idea neither Felicity nor Gerard cares for Roderick’s island. What was the island called? There was a TV documentary about it. Somewhere in the Caribbean.’

‘The Grenadin Island. One of the Valance group. Previously known as the St Philippe group.’

‘What fun that documentary was. I believe we watched it together, Provost, didn’t we? It made Roderick look quite mad. That high-pitched giggle! Those snow-white pyjamas! Never took them off. Had fifteen pairs, he said. Boasted about it. Would you boast about it if you had fifteen pairs of snow-white pyjamas, Provost?’