'A bit different, wouldn't you say?'

'That's to be expected. She's been gone a long time.' St James added more tea to his cup. He forced himself to meet the other man's eyes. The determination written across Cotter's face told him that if he said anything more he would be extending a blanket invitation to the sort of revelations he would rather not hear.

But Cotter didn't move from the doorway. It was a conversational impasse. St James surrendered. 'What is it?'

'Lord Asherton and Deb.' Cotter smoothed back his sparse hair. 'I knew that Deb would give 'erself to a man one day, Mr St James. I'm no fool. But knowing 'ow she always felt about… well, I suppose I'd thought that…' Cotter's confidence seemed to dwindle momentarily. He picked at a speck of lint on his sleeve. 'I'm that worried about 'er. What's a man like Lord Asherton want with Deb?'

To marry her, of course. The response came like a reflex, but St James didn't voice it even though he knew that doing so would give Cotter the peace of mind he sought. Instead, he found himself wanting to voice warnings of Lynley's character. How amusing it would be to limn his old friend as a Dorian Gray. The desire disgusted him. He settled on saying, 'It's probably not what you think.'

Cotter ran his finger down the door-jamb as if testing for dust. He nodded, but his face remained unconvinced.

St James reached for his crutches and swung himself to his feet. He headed across the room, hoping Cotter would see this activity as a conclusion to their discussion. But his design was foiled.

'Deb's got 'erself a flat in Paddington. Did she tell you that? Lord Asherton's keeping the girl like she was some tart.'

'Surely not,' St James replied and belted on the dressing-gown that Cotter handed him.

'What money's she got, then?' Cotter demanded. 'How else is it paid for, if not by 'im?'

St James made his way to the bathroom where the rush of water told him that Cotter — in his agitation — had forgotten that the tub was rapidly filling. He turned off the taps and sought a way to put the discussion to an end.