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and his hair had had the pick of women since they were all in knee breeches together. Now he had the pick of all mistresses and he ’ d chosen very well. It was quite possible Stan, old pal, was the first man to actually end an affair with the woman. Ursula did the shopping for a new lover. Ursula let that lover know when he was no longer welcome. But Stanley Winters, Viscount Forsgreen, had set her aside .
    “ I suppose he picked her up by the shoulders, turned, and set her down again. ” Harcourt demonstrated with an invisible model, then dusted his hands. “ Out of his way, presumably. Is that accurate, Stanley? ”
    Stanley’s blush looked to be seeping into his actual hair.
    “I let her go.”
    “ Aah. Like fishing, then? You took the hook from her mouth, so to speak, and put her back in the water. ” North couldn ’ t help but laugh at Harcourt ’ s miming skills.
    “ Can she swim, do you suppose? ” Monty was ever concerned with details. In exact opposition to his given name, he was obsessed with remaining sober and somber. But no longer. He dissolved into laughter at his own jest, as did they all.
    Stanley stood straighter, if possible. “ You know perfectly well what I mean. I ended our affair. I told her she was free to do as she pleases. ”
    North nodded and composed himself. “ And you paid her a nice settlement, of course. ”
    “Actually, she wouldn’t take it. She wasn’t at all pleased that I offered it.”
    Harcourt bent over, giggling, and dove onto the davenport.
    “ So, you have slighted Ursula. ” Monty sobered. “ That has to be it! Ursula found the Scarlet Plumiere and had you punished. Severely punished, it appears; if night follows day, and things play out the way the SP has predicted, you, my dear Viscount of F, are about to be released from your engagement. ”
    “ But that ’ s why I let her go, you see? It would be poor form to keep one ’ s mistress while one is preparing for marriage, and honeymoon, and fatherhood, and …”
    “ And death. ” Having solved the mystery, Monty ’ s nose was back in the book.
    “Yes, that too. If Irene Goodfellow breaks it off, Mother will have me fed to the fish, and even though she’s doddering, she’ll find a way to bear another son to replace me.”
    “ It ’ s unsettling the way that woman tosses that threat about, ” North admitted. “ It fairly gives me nightmares thinking about it. ”
    “Well, thinking about it has put me off seeing Ursula.”
    “ Quite so. Quite so. ” But what to do about it?
    “ It would be best to have her put down, Stanley. For your own good, ” Harcourt mumbled against the cushion.
    “Who? The Scarlet Plumiere? I can’t have a woman murdered, even if she’s essentially ruined my life with her blasted article. I can’t believe you’d suggest such a thing.”
    “ Oh, not her, man. Your mother. ” Harcourt rolled onto his back and spoke to the ceiling. “ Have your mother put down like the old horse that she is and enjoy the reprieve. Marry in another ten years. ”
    “ Put down my mo…you ’ re mad! ”
    “ No. Actually, it wasn ’ t a bad idea a ’ tall. ” Monty closed his book again and tossed it onto the table.
    “ All right. You ’ re both mad. I won ’ t be having my mother…put down, for God ’ s sake. ”
    “ Oh, Stanley. Do keep up. ” Monty folded his hands and grinned. He must have had a grand idea. “ I mean the SP, of course, not your dear saintly horse-of-a-mother. ”
    “ You mean it? You can stand here in front of God and good whisky and talk of having a woman murdered? Because all of London knows it ’ s a woman writing those articles. Good lord, man. Perhaps I don ’ t know you at all. Perhaps you could actually do the deed yourself! ”
    “ Oh, I would rather not do the deed myself, of course. But I suppose if I must… ”
    North couldn ’ t take it anymore. He tossed up his hands.
    “ I surrender as well, Monty. What are you thinking? You can ’ t