"It's just a devilish odd coincidence. I shared a boat - and a carriage - with Balcourt's sister and cousin." "I didn't realise he had a sister." "Well, he does." Richard abruptly pushed away his empty bowl. "What a great stroke of luck! Could you use the acquaintance with the sister to discover more about Balcourt's activities?" "That," Richard said grimly, "is not an option." Geoff eyed him quizzically. "I realise that any sister of Balcourt's is most likely repugnant at best, but you don't need to propose to the girl. Just flirt with her a bit. Take her for a drive, call on her at home, use her as an entree into the house. You've done it before." "Miss Balcourt is not repugnant." Richard twisted in his chair, and stared at the door. "What the devil is keeping supper?" Geoff leant across the table. "Well, if she's not repugnant, then-what's the - ah." "Ah? Ah? What the deuce do you mean by 'ah'? Of all the nonsensical..." "You" - Geoff pointed at him with fiendish glee - "are unsettled not because you find her repugnant, but because you find her not repugnant." Richard was about to deliver a baleful look in lieu of a response, when he was saved by the arrival of the footman bearing a large platter of something covered with sauce. Richard leant forward and speared what looked like it might once have been part of a chicken, as the footman whisked off with his soup dish. "Have some," Richard suggested to Geoff, ever so subtly diverting the conversation to culinary appreciation. "Thank you." Undiverted, Geoff continued, "Tell me about your Miss Balcourt." "Leaving aside the fact that she is by no means my Miss Balcourt" - Richard ignored the sardonic stare coming from across the table - "the girl is as complete an opposite to her brother as you can imagine. She was raised in England, somewhere out in the countryside. She's read Homer in the original Greek--" "This is serious," murmured Geoff. "Is she comely?" "Comely?" "You know, nice hair, nice eyes, nice..." Geoff made a gesture that Richard would have expected more readily from Miles."