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second—you know what he’s like when he gets going.…” I met his eyes stonily. “No, maybe you don’t,” he said, grinning to himself. “Anyway, suffice it to say I didn’t catch what it’s all about and was hoping you could fill me in. He wants to hold a company meeting or something, and I really can’t be bothered listening to him talk about it again.”
    “You should,” I said, turning back to my computer uncomfortably as I remembered the audit. “Because you could be in trouble. Chester wants to head up the perfect company full of perfect people. And that includes his partner companies, like us. So we’re going to be audited. He wants to check that everyone who works for him is whiter than white. You know, trustworthy.” I looked up at him meaningfully, telling myself that the auditor wouldn’t be interested in kisses in bars but in important stuff like fraud and embezzlement. And, anyway, Anthony was way worse than me. He didn’t even know the meaning of the word “ethical.” “If I were you, I’d start looking for somewhere else to pretend to work. I think the idea is that we have a blemish-free workforce.”
    “Blemish-free?” Anthony raised an eyebrow. “Sounds terribly dull.”
    “I think that sounds amazing,” Caroline said, her eyes widening. “Jerome D. Rutter says that trust is the foundation of everything. He says paring back to the basics makes you realize whom and what you can trust.”
    “Well, there you go,” I said.
    “Don’t worry about me,” Anthony said, straightening up, his eyes twinkling now. “It’ll be a questionnaire, I bet. I’m very good at questionnaires. By the time I’m finished with mine, they’ll be nominating me for the Nobel Prize. Or at least offering me a commendation.”
    “Sure they will,” I said, rolling my eyes. His confidence was shocking.
    Anthony winked. “Just you wait,” he said, looking back over his shoulder as he walked toward his office.
    “Is it true that clients really like Anthony?” Caroline asked, once he was out of earshot.
    I shrugged. That’s what Max always said. And he was right—Anthony’s charm knew no bounds, could convince the hardest cynic to give business to Milton Advertising. But he still infuriated me. “He basically gets paid for flirting,” I said with a sigh. “And everyone else has to do the work.”
    I turned back to my computer. Peace at last. Now my work could begin.
    “Darling?”
    I frowned. That sounded like …
    “Darling! You shouldn’t hunch over your computer like that.”
    “Mum?” I said incredulously. “Mum, what are you doing here? I’m working. And you’re meant to be in Wiltshire.” Mum was staying in my house in Wiltshire. The one Grace had left me in her will. Chester had asked her to move in several times but Mum insisted she needed her “own space” until they were actually married, not seeming to notice that Wiltshire wasn’t her “own” at all. I didn’t mind—at least my lovely house was being used by someone.
    “I’m on my way to do the wedding list. Of course, Chester should be coming with me, but naturally he’s too busy. So if he doesn’t like the dinner service I choose, then it’s really his own fault and he’s going to have to live with it.”
    “You know,” Caroline said, leaning over, “Jerome D. Rutter says that wedding lists can hold a negative force over you, because you feel like you’ve got to keep everything you’re given even though your life and tastes may change. He says that you should ask people to give to charity instead. That way you improve the world and don’t weigh yourself down.”
    Mum looked at Caroline and smiled tightly. “Well, Jerome D. Rutter obviously hasn’t seen the dinner service from Royal Doulton that I’ve got my eye on,” she said.
    “Mum, look, I’m kind of busy here. Is there something specific that you want?”
    She frowned. “You know, I’ve come all the way from Wiltshire. I don’t expect a