CHAPTER TWOThe horses stopped and the Marquis stepped out when a footman with powdered hair and wearing his Livery opened the door.
He walked quickly up the steps of Sarne House and into the hall saying over his shoulder as he did so, to the butler,
“Where is Mr. Barnham?”
“In his office, my Lord. Shall I fetch him?”
“No. Show that woman in the carriage into the morning room.”
He walked on over the marble floor without looking back and, turning down the corridor, opened a door halfway along it.
It was a very comfortable luxurious office that was in keeping with the magnificence of the rest of the house and Mr. Barnham was seated at a flat-topped desk with a pile of papers in front of him.
He looked up perfunctorily as the door opened and, seeing who was there, rose to his feet with
