“Thank you darling,” Harriet said, with a warm, genuine smile for her sister. What on earth would she do without her? Making her own enquiries would be hideously gauche but having her sister do it on her behalf was more than acceptable.

“Do pass along my regards to Mrs Bagshot when you see her won’t you? I would hate to muddy the waters before we absolutely need to,” she added, reminding herself that given the last marriage one of her son’s had made a connection to the Bagshots would not be entirely disastrous.

Assuming Faustus didn’t decide to elope of course.