I returned to the question. "Do you remember, Louisa? To whom did you speak when you first entered the house?"

She sat in silent thought for a moment. I knew it would be a difficult task for anyone to remember what they did every minute of one particular evening. The events that followed would make it doubly difficult for her, but I had to try.

"Mrs. Bennington, the actress," Louisa said at last, naming a young woman who had recently taken the crowned heads of Europe by storm.

From what I'd heard, Claire Bennington had an English father but had been raised on the Continent, taking the stage in Italy about five years ago. She had become a success there, and recently returned to London, where she had quickly won over audiences. She was still quite young, only in her early twenties, and married to an Englishman whom she'd met on the Continent. This season, it was quite popular for hostesses to have Mrs. Bennington attend one of their events and give a short performance for the guests.

"She seems a rather vague young woman," Louisa went on. "I have seen her perform and enjoyed it very much. I remember remarking on the contrast, how brilliantly she plays a part, to her blank stares when anyone greeted her tonight."

"I noted that, myself," Lady Aline said. "Probably she plays others so well because she has no thoughts of her own."

"I can hardly imagine her picking my husband's pocket, however," Louisa said.

"Who else was nearby?"

Louisa closed her eyes, as though shutting out the room to remember the streams of guests entering Lord Gillis's house. "I suppose I remember Mrs. Bennington because she is so famous. Oh, yes, Mr. Stokes was behind us. He is rather loud. I could not mistake him."

I glanced at Lady Aline. "I do not know Mr. Stokes."

"Basil Stokes," Aline answered. "Knew him since I was seventeen. Always tried to look up my skirts then-said he only wanted to see my ankles. I boxed his ears. Still likes to look up a lady's skirt, the devil."