Nevertheless the Earl’s eagle eye was aware of more movements in the bushes along the outside wall and moving nearer to the garden gate.
It was then he walked quickly back towards the house and, finding the Prince Regent just having left the supper room, he said to him,
“If Your Royal Highness is not too busy, would you be extremely gracious and show me the new picture by Poussin that I hear you have recently purchased?”
The Prince Regent’s eyes lit up.
“You have heard about it then?”
“I have heard, sir, and I long to see it,” the Earl replied, “but, of course, if Your Royal Highness is too busy – ”
“I am never too busy to talk to you, Lorimer,” the Prince Regent said as he smiled. “Of course, come and see my picture and personally I think it is a great find, but then you may not agr
