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gets on tomorrow.’
    â€˜Leave him where he is for the moment,’ said Thomas. ‘Knowing the capacity of young boys for a regular supply of food, he’ll wake up before long and demand sustenance. If not, I’ll carry him upstairs and put him to bed.’
    Mia offered to stack the dishwasher, so Ellie went along to her study to make a note of everything she could remember about the young con artist. It didn’t take long. She wasn’t feeling very bright.
    The moment she stopped thinking about Rose and the thefts, Diana’s problems leaped into Ellie’s mind. It was ridiculous of Diana to say she wanted to reclaim Frank, but the courts did bend over backwards to allow the children to stay with their mothers if possible, and Diana could make out a good case – well, she might be able to, if she got married again – but little Frank was dead against it, and surely they’d take his feelings into account?
    Oh, the hassle.
    A nasty suspicious thought slid into Ellie’s mind. Diana hadn’t a good record of looking after Frank, even when she was supposed to do so. Diana was always saying how difficult it was for her to have him when she had to work at weekends, and surely that must be even more difficult now she was on her own at the agency. So, how serious was she about trying to reclaim him? Could she possibly be using the threat to remove Frank in order to put pressure on Stewart – and thus on Ellie – to meet her demand for money?
    Ellie tried to laugh at herself. Diana wouldn’t stoop so low. Would she?
    The thought refused to be dismissed. Ellie’s dealings with Diana had taught her not to take everything her daughter said at face value. It might be a good idea to check on what was really going on in the girl’s life.
    Who was Diana’s new man, anyway? If he was reasonably solvent, then why wasn’t Diana applying to him for help?
    It might be that he was in no position to help her . . . which might mean that he’d be a liability rather than an asset. Oh dear.
    As for Diana’s debts . . . Ellie knew of a recent purchase of a top of the range car, extravagant clothes, the latest iPhone . . . Diana never stinted herself, did she?
    Ellie put her head in her hands. She’d been brought up to fear bankruptcy. Her father had always been afraid of getting into debt, wouldn’t even buy something on the never-never, had never held a credit card . . . though you didn’t have them in those days, did you? Nowadays, of course, that was the way most people bought things. She’d heard that many businessmen regarded bankruptcy as a temporary embarrassment and somehow managed to get back on their feet again in next to no time.
    But to bail Diana out by buying Denis off . . . and at such a cost! Ellie couldn’t see how it was to be done.
    When Ellie had decided to use her money for charitable purposes, she’d reserved an income for herself which had seemed ample to her at the time, though she knew Diana had sneered at it. Ellie wasn’t extravagant, and though the upkeep of this big house was a drain on their finances, Thomas covered nearly all of their living expenses from his salary. True, they lived quietly, but they still enjoyed the little treats that made all the difference: meals out, trips to the theatre, a new television set, the occasional holiday; that sort of thing.
    Of course, if Rose were going to need extra care, the cost of that must be taken into consideration . . . except that Miss Quicke had left Rose some money in her will, which might well cover it.
    Ellie tried to work out how much she could manage to give Diana without going cap in hand to her charity for funds and decided there was no way she was going to be able to do it.
    She would have to break the news to Thomas that Diana was in trouble again. Perhaps he’d have some sane and sensible advice to