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doesn’t matter talking in front of Beth, because she’s been the only person that I could talk to down here and she knows everything. There’s something awfully queer going on at home.’
    Mr Campion had effaced himself. He sat at the table now with an expression of complete inanity on his pale face. Val was visibly startled. This confirmation of his fears was entirely unexpected.
    â€˜What’s up?’ he demanded.
    Penny’s next remark was hardly reassuring.
    â€˜Well, it’s the Chalice,’ she said. There was reluctance in her tone as though she were loth to name the relic. ‘Of course, I may be just ultra-sensitive, and I don’t know why I’m bothering you with all this the moment you arrive, but I’ve been awfully worried about it. You remember the Cup House chapel has been a sacred place ever since we were kids – I mean it’s not a place where we’d take strangers except on the fixed day, is it? Well, just lately Aunt Diana seems to have gone completely mad. She was always indiscreet on the subject, of course, but now – well –’ she took a deep breath and regarded her brother almost fearfully – ‘she was photographed with it. I suppose that’s what’s brought you home. Father nearly had apoplexy, but she just bullied him.’
    As Val did not respond, she continued.
    â€˜That’s not the worst, though. When she was in London last she developed a whole crowd of the most revolting people – a sort of semi-artistic new religion group. They’ve turned her into a kind of High Priestess and they go about chanting and doing funny exercises in sandals and long white night-gowns. Men, too. It’s disgusting. She lets them in to see the Chalice. And one man’s making a perfectly filthy drawing of her holding it.’
    Val was visibly shocked. ‘And Father?’ he said.
    Penny shrugged her shoulders. ‘You can’t get anything out of Father,’ she said. ‘Since you went he’s sort of curled up in his shell and he’s more morose than ever. There’s something worrying him. He has most of his meals in his room. We hardly ever see him. And, Val’ – she lowered her voice – ‘there was a light in the East Wing last night.’
    The boy raised his eyebrows in silent question, and she nodded.
    Val picked up his coat.
    â€˜Look here,’ he said, ‘I’ll come back with you if you can smuggle me into the house without encountering the visitors.’ He turned to Campion. ‘You’ll be all right here, won’t you?’ he said. ‘I’ll come down and fetch you in the morning. We’d better stick to our original arrangement.’
    Mr Campion nodded vigorously.
    â€˜I must get Lugg into training for polite society,’ he said cheerfully.
    He saw Penny throw a glance of by no means unfriendly curiosity in his direction as he waved the three a farewell from the top of the stairs.
    Left to himself he closed the door carefully, and sitting down at the table, he removed his spectacles and extracted two very significant objects from his suitcase, a small but wicked-looking rubber truncheon and an extremely serviceable Colt revolver. From his hip-pocket he produced an exactly similar gun, save in the single remarkable fact that it was constructed to project nothing more dangerous than water. He considered the two weapons gravely.
    Finally he sighed and put the toy in the case: the revolver he slipped into his hip-pocket.

CHAPTER 6
The Storm Breaks
    â€”
    â€˜â€™E RE , wot d’you think you’re doing?’
    Mr Lugg’s scandalized face appeared round the corner of the door.
    â€˜Mind your own business,’ said Campion without looking up. ‘And, by the way, call me “sir”.’
    â€˜You’ve bin knighted, I suppose?’ observed Mr Lugg, oozing into the room and shutting the door behind him.