The morning of the garden party couldn’t have been more glorious nor any busier. The girls were up early and, along with the rest of the adults, were allocated a final range of jobs by Shilly to make sure that everything was in order. Alice-Miranda, Millie and Chessie were to double-check that the upstairs bedroom doors were locked and the rope barriers were all in place.

‘Now, I’m going to put you in charge of the keys,’ Shilly said to Alice-Miranda. Hanging from a round metal ring, this particular bundle was just for the bedrooms on the second and third floors. ‘But I think Charlotte will likely need the twins’ room kept open, as they’ll be up for their nap time later in the day.’

‘I’ll put them back into the cabinet once we’re all done,’ Alice-Miranda promised, taking them from Shilly.

‘Good girl.’ The woman gave a smile, which was a rare sight from her during the past few days.

‘At least the weather has been kind to us this year,’ Alice-Miranda said brightly.

‘Thank heavens I won’t be cleaning mud out of the carpets for months.’ Shilly winked. ‘And I think that staircase could do with one final polish, if you know what I mean.’

Millie gasped and her eyes lit up. ‘Can we borrow your stopwatch?’ she asked.

Shilly nodded and reached into her apron pocket. She handed over the stopwatch as well as a folded piece of paper. ‘You’ll be needing this too. But no riding the banister for you, Alice-Miranda. This is Millie and Chessie’s race.’

‘Too late, Shilly – I’ve already been on there twice this week.’ Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘I’ve totally regained my balance, although I’m being very careful on the dismount.’

Shilly shook her head. ‘You’ll be the death of me one day, young lady.’

The girls giggled and one by one leapt onto the banister, timing each other as they whizzed down the rail. Millie was the fastest and even beat Jacinta’s record, which she couldn’t wait to announce the minute they got back to school. The trio then charged up the stairs to Alice-Miranda’s room to get ready for the big day.

Cecelia had arranged three beautiful dresses, each of them white with different coloured sashes and trims. Alice-Miranda’s had mid-length sleeves, a green bow around the middle and pretty pink flowers that danced along the hem. Millie’s dress was a sleeveless design with a pattern of broderie anglaise all over, and Chessie’s had full-length sleeves and a trimming of pink satin ribbon. They helped one another into their outfits and slipped into their matching ballet flats, before Cecelia styled their hair. Her own dress was a gorgeous floral frock with a cinched waist and full skirt.

‘Perfect.’ Cecelia smiled as she placed the last of the three floral garlands on top of Millie’s flame-red hair. ‘Chessie, I’ve got to get my hat, but I’ll be back in a few minutes to take you downstairs to meet Miss Plunkett in Hugh’s study.’

‘And Millie and I will finish checking things up here,’ Alice-Miranda added.

Cecelia gave a wave and dashed out the door.

Alice-Miranda took Chessie’s hands into her own and gave them a squeeze. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Fine, I think. I just don’t know what I’m supposed to say to my uncle if I see him,’ the girl confessed.

‘He’ll hopefully do most of the talking,’ Millie said, trying to make her feel better. ‘If he comes, that is.’

Chessie nodded. She wished the butterflies in her stomach would settle down. ‘I can hardly believe it was only a week ago when I was hiding out in the barn and planning to never see my mother again. She’s been through so much and I was such a wimp.’

‘No, you weren’t,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘It was a horrible situation and I think you were very brave.’

‘Well, I feel a lot braver now, especially since I have two amazing new friends.’ Chessie hugged the girls.

Cecelia poked her head around the door. ‘Ready?’

Chessie took a deep breath and hurried out to join her.

Marjorie Plunkett arrived at the house just after nine. She and Jemima were confident they’d laid a good-enough trail for the man. One of Marjorie’s agents was stationed in Penberthy Floss and had been instructed to follow Desmond and there were others ready for when he arrived. To err on the side of caution, Marjorie had decided to fit Chessie with a tiny microphone beneath her clothes.

‘Do you really think he’s going to come looking for me?’ Chessie asked nervously.

Jemima nodded, biting a nail. ‘He’s been asking about you every day. I keep wondering what you could possibly have that he’s after.’

Chessie couldn’t think of anything either. The last time she’d seen her uncle, he hadn’t given her any presents.

Hugh and Anthony walked into the room as Marjorie was finishing up.

‘Are you sure Chessie’s going to be safe?’ Anthony asked, frowning with concern. In the few days he’d got to know his stepdaughter, he’d already grown very fond of her.

‘I’ve got agents crawling all over the garden and there’ll be some in the house too,’ Marjorie assured him. ‘If and when he approaches Chessie, we’ll have eyes and ears on both of them.’

There was a knock on the door, and Alice-Miranda poked her head in and smiled. She and Millie had left them to it while they’d done a last-minute check upstairs. ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked.

‘Chessie, why don’t you go with the girls and have a look around outside?’ Marjorie suggested.

Chessie turned to her mother, who hugged the child tightly.

‘We’ll come too,’ Jemima said, ‘but don’t worry, we’ll keep a safe distance.’

Anthony and Jemima exited the room with Chessie and the girls, leaving Hugh and Marjorie alone.

‘Do you really think Berwick’s likely to give up any of his secrets to Chessie today?’ Hugh asked.

Marjorie’s mouth was set in a grim line. She wasn’t entirely sure, but it was all they had. ‘We can only hope. Jemima has risked a lot the past year. I really want her to feel as if it was all worthwhile.’

Outside, the garden party was in full swing. A jazz band struck up on the front lawn and there were men and women arriving in their Sunday best, armed with hats and gloves and parasols. Little did they know the drama that was about to unfold.

Meanwhile, at the Treloar residence, Bentley’s plans to take the children to Highton Hall weren’t shaping up as well as he’d hoped. When he’d arrived home from work that morning, his wife had been full of accusations. For the life of him, Bentley couldn’t understand why she was so upset. She’d got her promotion, which had been the most important thing in the world to her. Adrienne should have been happy but she wasn’t at all.

‘Adie, please, I promised the children we’d take them, and Hugh has asked to have a quiet meeting with you as well,’ Bentley begged.

His wife glared at him. ‘Why? Because he’s finally realised that at least one of us in this family is a genius?’

Bentley could feel his resentment rising. ‘What? You think it was all your own idea?’ he muttered.

‘Well, I didn’t see you working around the clock to get to the bottom of it,’ Adrienne retorted. ‘If your venture hadn’t been such a spectacular failure then I wouldn’t have to work so hard.’

Bentley exhaled. He didn’t want to say something he’d regret, but his wife was pushing all of his buttons. He was also worried he’d misplaced a page of his notes. He knew he’d brought it home and he thought he’d put it in the shed, but the piece of paper wasn’t there.

‘No, of course you’re right,’ he said.

‘And if Hugh Kennington-Jones hadn’t diddled you out of what you were due, maybe I could spend more time at home with the children,’ she added.

‘I sold him that concept for a good price, Adie. I wasn’t to know that his team would improve it and be able to get a worldwide patent,’ Bentley said, as he had done many times before. ‘And he gave me a job.’

‘You were sold up the river!’ she hissed. ‘And now you want to attend the scoundrel’s garden party.’

In the kitchen the children were all wailing and sobbing. Adrienne tried to hold on to her resolve, but she couldn’t stand it another minute.

‘Fine!’ she shouted. ‘Let’s go.’

Within seconds Bentley had the kids in the car. ‘We don’t have to stay long,’ he said, patting his wife’s leg.

She flinched as if he’d just poked her with a cattle prod.

In the back seat, Dottie gulped. She hated it when her parents fought. And she hated that she liked it much better when her mother was away for work.

‘Let’s go and have a lovely day,’ Bentley said, mustering all the cheer he could.

‘Yeah, lovely day!’ Leo parroted, quickly followed by Martha. The boy scrunched up his nose and patted his jacket pocket. ‘And I’ve got a present for Alice-Miranda.’