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out the window, Daisy slipped the letter under the blotter on her desk.
    â€œThat’s not true at all, Tatty, and you know it. Only yesterday you had us both running like geese round the edge of the pond, trying to catch carp with those nets. One of the gamekeepers could have fished a couple out in an instant, but you insisted we do it ourselves.”
    â€œIt was fun! And I wanted to have some for a bowl in my room. Now I can watch them swim around waving their marvelous little tails.”
    â€œThat’s what the pond is for,” Daisy pointed out.
    â€œI can’t be lulled to sleep in my bed, looking into the pond ,” Tatty pointed out back. “Anyway, if you won’t come for the ride, I’m not going to go either. I’ll just stay right here and contemplate life. I believe I’m getting awfully good at it. What fascinating subject did Gerald want to discuss? Mathematics? Microscopic biology? His complete moral turpitude?”
    Daisy sighed. It was unkind to think it, but sometimes it was like trying to hold a conversation with a springer spaniel.
    â€œNo, he wanted to talk about us,” she said in a tired voice. She wished Tatty would be careful of what she said and where she said it, but was reluctant to pass on Gerald’s threat. “He thinks we’re interfering again.”
    â€œWell … we are, aren’t we? Only last week we were investigating what had happened to those steam-powered pressing machines—the ones that have gone missing from the factory on the North Wall. They weighed several tons each. I daresay they weren’t carried away by pickpockets. We know he’s taken them for some reason. He can’t go about removing industrial machinery from the family’s factories and expect us to turn a blind eye.”
    â€œThat’s exactly what he expects,” Daisy said. “Nothing can get in the way of his research.”
    â€œAll right, so he’s had his quiet word with you,” Tatty chirped. “What are we going to do?”
    Daisy was silent for a moment, picturing in her mind the steel-framed window on that windy rooftop. Then she thought of the letter lying under the blotter on her desk.
    â€œWe’re going to keep asking questions. But we’ll tone it down for a while. Let him think he has us under his heel. We must avoid drawing his attention over the next few weeks. I fear that, as a result of his obsessive quest—whatever that is—Gerald has developed a very short fuse. We must be careful not to light it.”

VI
    AN AWKWARD SILENCE
    DINNER IN WILDENSTERN HALL had become a tense, fraught affair. Ever since Gerald had taken over as acting Patriarch, there had been unrest among the more ambitious relatives. Three assassination attempts later, that simmering rebellion had settled into a murmur of dissent. Simply put, Gerald had terrified them into submission. The family had been on edge after Gerald had foiled the first two murder attempts. But Ainsley’s death had put an end to any further thoughts of disposing of him in the traditional manner.
    On the evening of Daisy’s rooftop discussion with Gerald, the expansive meal started with the slurping of oysters, followed by soup and breads and then baked fish. The main course was roast beef with a fine variety of vegetables and more bread. Some of the diners indulged in wine, stewing their spirits in silence. These days, those of a junior rank in the family found it was very easy to say the wrong thing, so it was best to say nothing at all. Others, more confident of their position, took advantage of this gathering to make their case to the Patriarch.
    Every adult male member of the Wildenstern clan had a position within the North America Trading Company. As Gerald was Chairman, every important business decision had to be run through him. But as Gerald wasn’t all that interested, these decisions were often delegated to Daisy—a situation