London, April 1901 The Earl of Culligan was enjoying the spring sunshine in St James’s Park in central London. Even though he had only arrived from Dublin a few days earlier, he had established a very pleasant afternoon routine encompassing a circuit of the lake and a stop for refreshment at a tea house on the edge of Birdcage Walk. From his seat outside, he could see Big Ben rising above the trees. A steady stream of han...

I was a foundling baby, left on the steps of Exeter Cathedral on Christmas Eve 1882 and taken in by my adoptive parents Henry and Elsie Connors, who had not been blessed with children of their own. My father owned the Royal Oak inn on the high road between Plymouth and Exeter. It was a successful establishment which he had bought with prize money from his time in the Royal Navy. They called me Mary because that had been m...

Cap Ferrat, South of France, May 1903. The last rays of the setting sun still showed above the dark line of the sea’s horizon, but in the woods that lined the hilly coast, twilight had turned to night and the scent of pine drifted through the trees as the hiss of small waves sounded on the rocky shoreline. Half way up the steep slope that overlooked the bay, a cluster of lights showed in the warm darkness. Conversation an...

London 1902 ‘Hector thinks it would be a good idea if we were to receive some lessons in the noble art of self-defence. He points out in his note that you may not always be able to rely on a rolling pin being to hand, Mary.’ She raised her eyebrows at me in her inimitable way. ‘A reasonable point, Georgina.’ I smiled back. ‘Exactly. Anyway, tomorrow evening we are to attend the Berkley Club in Berkley Square at half-past...

True to her word, I received a brief note in the post on Tuesday morning from Amelia confirming that she would be arriving at Arundel Court around half-past five the following day and would expect to stay the night. Georgina was thrown into an orgy of anticipation and yet again had to be disabused of the notion that she would be joining in whatever activities I had in mind for my new friend. More pouting and flouncing fol...

Prior to entering Georgina's employment, Mary has been invited to observe her new mistress at work in defence of the realm... So it was that at four o’clock the following day, Jimmy and I entered a cupboard on the landing and slipped down a passage to the window that looked out into Georgina’s boudoir. From her side the window was a mirror and, as she had explained, it was through this that the photographs were taken. It...

The train arrived in Southampton at half past three, and I sat in the ladies’ waiting room until the London express’s departure at a quarter past four. When it was time to leave, I had trouble finding a porter to assist me with my suitcase but finally attracted the attention of an elderly, stooping, knobbly-kneed specimen who looked as though he should have been safely retired some years previously. Because of this, we ar...

Bancroft Hall, Dorsetshire, England. September 1902. In the late afternoon of the second day after her arrival at Bancroft, the countess returned from a ride and found me in her sunlit bedroom tidying up, as befits a lady’s maid. I noticed she was moving stiffly and enquired as to the problem. ‘I almost fell off my horse in the woods on the far side of the lake,’ she answered, her slight German accent noticeable in the qu...