These thoughts flashed into my mind as I stood there, tingling with excitement and apprehension.

I took the handle of the door and turned it very quietly. The door was locked. Yet … someone was in there.

I stood for a few more seconds and then I went very quietly along to Mrs. Emery’s room.

I knocked. There was no answer for a few moments and then she said sleepily: “Who’s there?”

I went in. She was dozing by the fire and was startled to see me.

“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mrs. Emery, but I think there is someone in the locked room.”

She continued to look bemused and was clearly not yet awakened from her doze.

“Locked room …” she repeated.

“Yes. I distinctly heard someone there.”

She was recovering herself. “Oh no, Miss Rebecca. You must have fancied it. Unless Mr. Lansdon’s come home unexpectedly and none of us heard he had.”

“I can hardly believe that. Have you got your key?”

She jumped up, looked alarmed, and went to a drawer, opened it and held up the key in triumph.

“Then it must be Mr. Lansdon. But I tried the door and it was locked.”

“You didn’t speak to him, did you? He wouldn’t have liked that. He wouldn’t have wanted to be disturbed.”

“No, I did not. I was very quiet. I can’t believe he was in there.”

“I’ll go up to his room and see if his things are there. But we should have heard him if he’d come from London. There would have been the carriage from the station and all that bustle. There always is.”

“Let’s go at once, Mrs. Emery. Bring the key. Let’s go into the room. Someone may have broken in.”

She nodded grimly. But first we went to Benedict’s room. There was no sign of his arrival.

Mrs. Emery was looking uneasy.

“I must assure myself that there is no one there, Mrs. Emery,” I said.

“All right then, Miss Rebecca.”

We went to the room and she unlocked the door. I caught my breath in amazement. Oliver Gerson was sitting at a little bureau near the window. There was a tin box at his feet and it looked as though he were going through some papers.

He stood up and stared at us.

“So …” I stammered. “It was you …”

“Miss Rebecca …” He looked a little startled for the moment. I fancied he had paled beneath his bronzed skin.

I said: “What are you doing here? No one is supposed to come here. How did you get in?”

He smiled at me and then he was the charming easy-going Oliver Gerson. He put his hand in his pocket and held up a key.

“But there are only two. Mrs. Emery has one.”

“This is the other,” he said.

“Mr. Lansdon’s? So he gave it to you.”

“I came to get some papers and take them back to him.”

“Papers?” I said. “But this was my mother’s room.”

“He keeps some papers here … rather special papers. He wanted me to find them and take them to him.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling deflated.

Mrs. Emery looked very relieved.

“You look really scared,” he said. “Did you think I was a ghost?”

Mrs. Emery said: “Mr. Lansdon always wanted the room locked. He was the only one who went in … bar me to clear. I wonder he didn’t say.”

“Oh, he didn’t think it was important. He knew my coming would not excite much curiosity. As a matter of fact I have nearly finished.”

“Did you bring any luggage, Mr. Gerson?” asked Mrs. Emery. “I’ll see about a room …”

“No … please. It is just a day visit … to get the papers and get back with them. They are wanted urgently.”

“Well, I expect you’ll want something to eat before you go back to London.”

“I dropped in at an inn for some ale and a sandwich. I was in rather a hurry.”

“How did you get into the house?”

“The back door was open and as everyone seemed to be out of the way I got on with the business. I knew where to find everything.”

“Well, you’d like something, I daresay. A cup of tea … or that sort of thing?”

“How very good of you, Mrs. Emery; always so thoughtful for our creature comforts. I was saying to Mr. Lansdon what a treasure you are. But I can’t stop. I’m in rather a hurry. I have to get back to London.”

He was putting some papers into a case.

“You found what you wanted?” I asked.

“Oh yes. Everything.”

“So you will be leaving immediately?”

“I regret that I must. Mr. Lansdon can be a very impatient man.”

“Belinda will be disappointed.”

He put his fingers to his lips. “Sh. Not a word to her or I shall be severely castigated when I next see her which I hope will be soon.”

He smiled at me warmly. “Well, much as I regret it, I must be off. Sorry I gave you a bit of a scare.”

“It wouldn’t take me long to brew a cup of tea,” said Mrs. Emery. “The kettle’s on the hob in my room.”

“Mrs. Emery; you are an angel of mercy as well as a treasure, but duty calls.”

He closed the case and we went out of the room. He locked the door and put the key back into his pocket.

“Au revoir,” he said and was gone.

Mrs. Emery said: “Well, I could certainly do with a nice cup of tea after that. You really had me scared, Miss Rebecca.”

“It was a bit hair-raising to hear someone there.”

“I’d say. It was a good thing it wasn’t one of those girls. They would have had hysterics … you can bet your life.”

“I’m glad we found the explanation.”

We went to her room. “What a nice young man he is,” said Mrs. Emery, looking intently at me. “Always a smile and a cheery word. He’s as friendly to the tweeny as he is to the rest of us. And the children just love him.”

“Yes,” I agreed, “particularly Belinda.”

“Poor mite. She looked really seedy when she came back.” She looked at me intently and added: “I think he’s sweet on you.”

There was a little smirk about her lips. I guessed she was thinking he might provide the solution to my troubles.

It was about a week after that incident that Benedict came to Manorleigh. Oliver Gerson came with him.

They had not been in the house more than twenty minutes when the trouble started.

Benedict was in his study and the children at their lessons in the schoolroom. Belinda was very excited because Oliver Gerson was in the house and she guessed that we should all go riding together as we did when he was here.

I was mounting the stairs when I heard angry voices coming from the study. I paused. Then I heard Benedict saying: “Go. Go at once. Get out of this house.”

I stood still, horror creeping over me. For the moment I thought he must be talking to Celeste.

Then I heard Oliver Gerson: “Don’t imagine you can talk like that to me. I know too much.”

“I don’t care what you know. You are finished here. Do you understand? Get out.”

“Look here,” said Oliver Gerson. “You can’t do this, I tell you. Don’t imagine that I shall just go meekly. You can’t afford that, Mr. Benedict Lansdon. I repeat … I know too much.”

“I don’t care what you know. I won’t have you here. You must be mad if you think you can blackmail me.”

“You can’t afford to be so high and mighty. All I ask is what would be expected: after the marriage … partnership. It would be good for you, too. Enable you to be free of the whole unsavory business. It’s not good for your political image, you know. You won’t want certain things known. The Devil’s Crown, eh? What goes on … Mr. Benedict Lansdon, the owner of the most disreputable club in Town. Come, come, be reasonable.”

“I would not allow my stepdaughter to marry you, no matter what you threatened to do.”

I could not have moved then if I had wanted to. They were talking about me. I tried to calm myself. It was vital that I understand what this was all about.

“And …” went on my stepfather, “if Rebecca knew what you are you wouldn’t have the ghost of a chance with her.”

“She knows me well enough.”

“But you admit you have spoken to her.”

“I tell you it is only a matter of time. I am almost there, and she’ll be ready to defy you. Think again.”

“I tell you I will not have it.”

“Isn’t it her decision?”

“I am her guardian. I will forbid it. I have no doubt you have been a charming suitor and in the event of failing with her you have your eyes on Belinda. You’d have to wait a long time for that one. But get this out of your mind. You are not getting a foothold in this family. I know too much about you and now you are indulging in attempted blackmail, I tell you it is the end.”

“You can’t do it, Lansdon. Just think what it means. It put an end to your grandfather’s political ambitions. Can’t you learn from him? This Devil’s Crown affair. It’s damning.”

“How … how did you …?”

“How did I discover? Never mind, I did. Think again. You’d better be careful. You’ll be better off as my stepfather-in-law, you know, than if certain things came out into the open.”

“Get out of this house.”

“Do you think you can push me out like this? What of my contracts?”

“It will be arranged through lawyers.”

“Don’t think I shall go meekly.”

“I don’t care how you go as long as you go.”

“It’s not the end of this, Benedict Lansdon.”

“It’s the end of our association, Oliver Gerson.”

I knew the door was about to open and I sped upstairs. I stood on the landing above looking down. I saw Oliver Gerson stride down the stairs.

I still stood there in a dazed fashion. Benedict came up the stairs and saw me.

“Rebecca!” he said, and I realized at once that he knew I had overheard at least something of what had been said.

“You were listening.”

I could not deny it.

“Come into my study,” he said. “It is time we talked.”

I followed him in. He shut the door and stood looking at me for a few seconds.

Then he said: “Sit down. How much did you hear?”

“I heard him threatening you, demanding a partnership … and then something about marrying me.”

He said: “How could you marry a man like that! Did you imagine yourself in love with him?”

I flushed. “No. I certainly did not.”

“Thank God for that. I couldn’t make up my mind. You were with him a great deal. All those rides with the children … all that gallantry.”

“You … noticed that?”

“Of course I did.”

“I’m surprised. I thought you were quite oblivious of our existence.”

“Belinda is my daughter. You are my stepdaughter. You were left in my charge. Of course I am aware of you. I blame myself for allowing him to come here.”

“I gather he is a close associate of yours. It was natural that he should come here.”

“I guessed what he was after when he paid so much attention to you.”

“He wanted a partnership in your business, I gather, and he thought if he married me it would help him to get it.”

“That is so.”

“He did ask me to marry him some time ago. I declined.”

“He is so sure of himself that he thought in time you would change your mind.”

“He made an error of judgment.”

“I am glad of that. He has a certain superficial charm. I should have seen through him before. When I told him I would never allow him to marry you, I think he lost his head. He saw his careful plans coming to nothing … and then he tried to blackmail me. You heard it. You might as well understand the position clearly … particularly as you are concerned.”

“I am a little shocked. I don’t know what to think.”

“You couldn’t see the motive behind all the gallantry.”

“What surprises me most is that you were aware of it.”

“Do you think I am blind?”

“To your family … yes. I know you are very astute in other matters.”

“Your welfare has always been my concern. You were left in my care by …” He faltered a little. “By your mother. I looked upon it as a trust. I know that you resented me right from the moment we were married. I tried to understand it. She explained it to me. She said that because you had no father you and she had been particularly close. You didn’t want change. We never got together, did we? And then … she died.”

He turned away and I said: “I know. I lost her too.”

“She was … everything I wanted …”

I nodded.

“There has been animosity between us … It was not my wish …”

“I see that now.”

And I was seeing a completely different person. He was vulnerable as I had never thought of him before. He might be the stern ruthless man but he had his weaknesses … and he had loved my mother and needed her … he needed her now.