The Marquis of Ingleton looked up as his secretary came into the room.
He was writing at a desk that had been made especially for his grandfather in the reign of King George IV and was very elaborate with gilt feet and exquisitely gilded handles to the drawers.
“I have brought you the table seating for tonight, my Lord,” his secretary began.
He was a middle-aged man who had been an Army Officer and still looked it.
He had been with the Marquis for nearly ten years and the smooth running of Ingleton Hall and the Marquis’s houses in other parts of the country owed everything to his direction.
He then held out the seating plan that was a replica of the dining room table, done in green leather and with a space to insert a card where every guest would be seated.
The Marquis took it from h
