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catching his drift, ‘but first Mistress Laker will wish to take a little refreshment after her journey.’ She took Phoebe by the hand. ‘Come, my dear. Did you not bring Mrs Overshott with you this time? Or did she go round with your luggage?’
    ‘No, my lady, a slight indisposition, that’s all, so I told her I could manage well enough with you to chaperon me, this time. She sends her regards, and her apologies. She would like to have seen the newest alterations. You’ve had the gardens restyled too, have you not?’ Her glance round from the top of the steps at the green lawns and flower-beds happened to collide with Sir Leo’s which, far from being subdued by her icy manner, was regarding her with a directness that made her blink and turn away in some confusion. You will not dismiss me as easily as that, it said . If you don’t like my being here, you’ll have to get used to it.
    ‘Indeed I have,’ said the Duchess, giving her skirts a shake. ‘Even the Duke has not seen the latest changes. He and Sir Leo arrived only last night.’
    ‘Oh, I see. Then…?’
    Just behind her shoulder, Sir Leo gave a huff of laughter as he answered. ‘No, mistress, we shall not be going anywhere. Not for a wee while. Did you hope we would?’
    ‘Of course she didn’t, Leo. Don’t be so provoking. Now, which of you gallant gentlemen is going to open the door? What in heaven’s name is the matter with the footmen today? Thank you.’
    Sweeping through into the great hall, the sudden change of light sent a cold shiver down Phoebe’s arms, and the event to which she had looked forward with such eagerness now took on all the aspects of a burden to which, yet again, she would have to bring all her reserves of light-heartedness in order to convince those around her that she was carefree.

    To her credit, Elizabeth, Duchess of Lauderdale, took her friendships very seriously. She and Phoebe’s mother had formed an affection twenty years ago while Phoebe and her elder brother Timothy were still in their infancy. Master Adolphus Laker had been an exceedingly prosperous banker and goldsmith with enough wealth to forge connections in society and clients in Court circles. Elizabeth and her first husband had purchased gold and silver plate from the Laker premises at the Royal Exchange in London, neither of them being too high and mighty to include merchants amongst their friends.
    It was the Great Plague of 1665 that had put a grisly end to it when Master Laker and his wife became victims within days of each other. They had been exemplary parents, and the shock to Phoebe and her brother was severe. Although still young, Timothy had set about buying a new house for him and his sister in the country further up the Thames at Mortlake where they could live well away from such terrors. At the same time, he had revived his father’s business after so great a decline in the population. Compared to some, the brother and sister had counted themselves fortunate, living together with a distant relative named Mrs Overshott who had nursed their parents through that terrible time.
    Then, as had happened to so many others, disaster struck again in the September of the following year when the Great Fire destroyed so much of the city of London, including the Royal Exchange where the Lakers’ business was. Only fate could have dealt Phoebe such a cruel blow, for after Timothy had removed all the valuable contents of the shop and transported them to Mortlake for safe keeping, he had returned to London to collect the paperwork on which the business depended: order books and receipts, stock and pattern books, tools and correspondence.
    But he had left it too late, for the building was already ablaze and unsafe when he arrived, and he and his manager were trapped in the the Exchange as it crashed. Phoebe never recovered his remains. She was virtually alone without a family. Wealthy and safe, but alone and without a single grave to mark her losses.
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