'But you did steal Ravenscliff's papers?'

'I have them.' He didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

'Anyway,' I continued, trying to digest this, 'in my opinion, this had nothing to do with Ravenscliff. He was arrogant enough not to doubt his own judgement. He could not believe any decision of his could go wrong. He was supremely confident that this gamble of his would work. There is no sign that he was worried on that score at all.

'But he was coming to grips with the one thing he feared more than anything. His companies had come alive; he had created a monster, and it was acting in its own interests, no longer taking orders. Its job was to maximise its profits; Xanthos saw a way to make them astronomically large and enrich himself at the same time. And when Ravenscliff threatened to stop it, I believe his own invention killed him. I doubt that Xanthos personally pushed him out of the window. But I am fairly certain that he was responsible for it; he threatened to kill me a few days ago. A man called Steptoe was killed by him a few days ago; another employee at Beswick died as well. I don't know if he was acting in concert with other managers. Bartoli, Jenkins, Neuberger, may all be part of it, or they may have been even less aware of what was taking place than Ravenscliff himself. I don't really care. That's your job.'

'And that is your understanding of what has taken place?'

'Yes. Ravenscliff was much too clever to channel money for an assassination through his own companies. He was a master of the art of hiding much larger sums. You were meant to trace the money. Heavens, even I managed it.'

'Interesting. I had assumed Xanthos was operating on Ravenscliff's instructions. Are you sure he was not?'

'He would hardly have had to spend so much time finding out what Xanthos was doing if he already knew. And Lady Ravenscliff would have been nowhere near Cowes yesterday. I mean, in the matter of assassinations, why not let the professionals get on with it?'

He thought this one over. 'In that case I think I may owe Lady Ravenscliff an apology. She must think very poorly of me. Thank you, Mr Braddock. You have been most informative. I wish I'd talked to you earlier. You must forgive me; I assumed that you must have had some hidden role. Certainly you did seem to go out of your way to draw attention to yourself.'

'I thought I was being discreet.'

'Yes, well. There we must differ.'

He stood up and folded his newspaper. 'I do hope you recover properly, and with good speed. But I'm afraid I must leave; I have a great deal to do; giving Lady Ravenscliff her freedom, of course, being somewhere near the top of the list.'

And he quietly left me alone to my thoughts, which were in some turmoil after what I had just said. I beat the mattress with my fist in frustration, so hard that my shoulder opened up again and I had to be rebandaged by the nurses, who scolded me, then gave me some nasty-tasting medicine which made me drowsy once more.

When I woke up again it was night, and she was there. Heavens but she was beautiful, so delicate, and lovely, sitting and looking out of the window so I could study her for a long time; the only time I had caught her unaware that she was being looked at. I could see what she was really like when no one else was watching.

There was nothing; she merely sat, waiting, totally immobile, with no expression on her face, no movement at all. Just perfection, no more and no less; a work of art so exquisite that it was breathtaking. I had never encountered a woman so lovely, and in all the years afterwards never met anyone who came close.

And when I moved, she turned and smiled. I felt a glow spread through me. Just to be the recipient of such warmth and concern made me feel better.

'Matthew, how are you? I've been so worried for you. I cannot apologise enough.'

'I should think not,' I said with an attempt at a smile. 'You did shoot me.'

'I have been in agonies about it. Terrible thing. Terrible. But you are still with us – and so is the Tsar.'

'When did you know he was the target?'

'Not until Jan stepped forward. He'd told me to come with him, that this was important. We stayed in a boarding house for a night. He was unusually terse and ill-humoured. But wouldn't say anything. I tried my best, but he became threatening. So I had no choice. I just had to stay with him. I knew something was going to happen, and I began to worry about what it might be. It was only when he stepped out that I was certain and knew what I had to do. About the same time that you realised as well. I'm sorry I shot you, but you would have been no match for him. He would have murdered the Tsar, even with you hanging on to him. I couldn't take the risk.'

'I quite understand,' I said gallantly. 'And what is a little bullet wound in comparison to a European war?'

'And I owe my freedom to you as well. Mr Cort told me what you had said.'

'Yes,' I replied. 'That's the bit that's puzzling me.'

'Why?'

'I am normally a truthful person,' I said evenly. 'I've only started telling lies since I met you.'

She frowned in slight dismay and confusion; just a little enough to make the bridge of her nose wrinkle attractively before she smiled again.

'I was looking at you when you shot me, you see. The expression in your eyes. I really don't think you were trying to miss me.'

'Of course I was,' she said a little petulantly. 'I was petrified, that's all. You read far too much into my eyes.'

'They are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. I have tried often to get you to look at me, just to have that feeling of excitement that it causes in my stomach. When I close mine, I can see them. I dream of them. I know them well.'

'But why would I want to shoot you? I mean, really shoot you. You know.'

'How often do you take the waters at Baden-Baden?'

She looked momentarily confused, then replied. 'Every year. I go in the autumn. I have done for many years now. Why do you ask that?'

'And Mr Xanthos? He is an enthusiastic water-taker as well?'

'No,' she said, 'I'm sure he is not.'

'But you were both there last autumn?'

'Yes.'

'Strange that an arms salesman should go to a place like that. Unless he was visiting someone. Like you.'

She raised an eyebrow. Her face, so very expressive it was, was turning cold.

'And when you were both there you came to the attention of Madame Boninska, otherwise known as the witch-woman. A nasty bit of work, who made a tidy living out of blackmail. She knew a gold mine when she saw one. She followed you back to England, and decided to try a little blackmail. How long did you pay up before you refused?'

'Matthew, you are talking such nonsense. Have these nurses been putting something into your tea?'

'Morphine, maybe?' I said, with a quite nasty tone. 'Drink some. You know more about that sort of thing than I do.'

That stopped her attempt at good humour, so I continued. 'She wrote to your husband, who went to see her. There she gave him the details. That his beloved wife was having an affair with another man. His own employee was betraying him. Not only planning to take his company away from him, but to take his wife as well.

'Lord Ravenscliff was not a man to go down without a fight. He had already amended his will so that everything would fall into the hands of an administrator should he die. I am fairly certain that, if he had had his meeting with Xanthos the next day, Xanthos would have been dismissed. And then he would have thrown you out as well. I have heard enough to know that he was thorough and ruthless. When he acted, he moved fast and decisively. And he hated disloyalty above all.

'But you were his equal, so Xanthos told me, and he was right. You moved fast. One swift move, and he was out the window. Did you put your arms around him and tell him how much you loved him before you gave him a little push? Or was it some melodrama, opening the window and threatening to throw yourself out, until he came to stop you and made the mistake of turning his back on you?'