Chapter 2
The following morning, Joseph was summoned to a meeting in a room on the second floor of the House of Commons.
The walls were oak-panelled. A heavy swathe of burgundy velvet hung at the window. The scarlet and gold Axminster didn’t quite fit the interior space, leaving a three-inch gap all the way around. The floor beneath was laid with chilly Victorian tiles in a dozen shades of brown and ochre. Originally it must have been a room designed to impress; now it looked old-fashioned and shabby, the furniture an odd assortment of flat-pack pine and overstuffed chintz.
A musty smell pervaded the atmosphere. Probably it came from the carpet.
The door opened to admit the Home Secretary, Rhys Scarpa-Mottisfont, who strode in holding a sheaf of papers and a silver pen. He walked in a
