"My name is John Pearson and I'd intended to write a book about a lost world of gamblers and aristocrats, of privilege and decadence, now long gone." "But books have a strange way of exerting their own existence and the more I researched one story, the more I was pointed in the direction of another." "Towards a mystery that has remained unsolved for four decades." "Can't we get started, Aspers?" "As you wish, Lucky, as you wish." "Can you smell that, Burkie?" "Excitement, glamour, fear, greed." "And a dash of desperation behind the ears." "Make sure you keep the drinks flowing." "Card." "How dare you!" "This is outrageous!" "Mother, leave this to me." "What right have you to come barging in here?" "I am Chief Superintendent Rogers of the Metropolitan Police." "You are breaking the law, sir." "How so?" "These are all intimate friends of mine and we're simply indulging in a spot of after-dinner fun." "Yourself, Lady Osborne and Mr Burke are under arrest for running a common gaming house." "Your guests also for frequenting the same." "Take them away." "There was nothing common in here, Officer, until you walked in." "I can manage." "And that's where it should have ended, Mr Pearson." "The whole thing." "Ah." "Aspers had got used to a certain lifestyle." "He'd bought this big estate, opened his own zoo." "He couldn't face being broke again, so he decided to fight it." "But didn't the policeman see everything through the window?" "Aspers realised that if they prosecuted us, then every club in Mayfair with a bridge table must also be 'a common gaming house', you see." "He was quite right." "The case was thrown out of court and, pretty soon after, gaming houses were made legal." "It was called Aspinall's Law." "But we never did go back to our Chemmy parties." "There was now an opening for something on a much grander scale." "Lovely evening." "Aspers spent an absolute fortune doing the place up." "He was a wonderful host." "But makes no bones about it, he was after their money." "He was systematically working his way through the inheritances of the English aristocracy, money that had been built up over centuries." "It only took him a couple of years and he'd cleaned out most of them." "One of those men ruined by Aspers was, of course, Lord Lucan." "The reason you're here, Mr Pearson?" "Well, I'm not here just about Lucan." "You can say you're writing a book about the Clermont or whatever, but, really, you're writing about Lucky Lucan and what happened." "What became of him." "Because that's the key to everything, isn't it?" "So what did become of him?" "That's your problem, John." "Nobody will tell you." "Are we going to see the horses today, Daddy?" "Not today, my little angel, but we will soon, I promise." "Will you be having lunch with us?" "I was going to cook." "Fish fingers and frozen vegetables?" "No, thank you." "I'll take it at the club." "I'm meeting a few friends there." "What about dinner?" "I'll dine there." "Right, will you hold this for Daddy?" "And, Frances, can you get my cuff links from the drawer?" "Park her up, Billy." "Very good, Your Lordship." "Lucan treated the Clermont as a home from home, just as Aspers intended." "The world is overpopulated, Jimmy." "We've forgotten the lessons of natural selection, the survival of the fittest." "Aspers, you really are full of the most frightful hot air." "Where there is the greatest density of human beings, there is the greatest social sickness." "We are led, therefore, by representatives of the sickest part of our community." "That is why the country is paralysed by strikes and filthy with rubbish piled in the streets." "I would quite happily sacrifice myself and my children, if it could be arranged that another 250 million of the surplus biomass went with us." "I assume all of us would survive the cull in this brave new world of yours?" "You'll be all right, your lineage is impeccable." "And I assume the Goldsmith millions would save you, Jimmy?" "It's to do with genetics." "If we are pre-programmed to lead and to innovate, then we'll rise to the top and assume our rightful place at the head of the pack, just like the alpha male amongst a band of primates." "I might have known your bloody gorillas would be involved somewhere." "What about everyone else, Aspers?" "The weak, the old and the useless will fall away." "One mustn't be overly sentimental about these things." "Come on." "I want some supper before I fall away." "And keep that bloody thing away from me." "I do so love, Aspers." "He's the perfect antidote to glumness." "Are you still under siege at home?" "She's beginning to complain about the amount of time I spend here." "She does have a point, old thing." "But this is what I do." "This is how I earn my living." "Do try and square things up with her, Lucky, it would make your life so much easier." "Oh, God." "I'm only trying to help." "No, no, it's not that." "What then?" "Well, I was just thinking." "if it's useless old primates we have to cull, then poor old Charlie here will be the first to go." "Very funny." "Lucan got his 'Lucky' tag after winning £26,000 pounds in a single night, playing Chemmy in Le Touquet." "But as his luck at the table seemed to have consistently deserted him thereafter, as a nickname it became more and more ironic." "More chips, please." "Of course." "Another thousand." "I shall just write another." "Please, Lucky, allow me to make this gesture." "I cannot, Aspers." "I lost." "I must, therefore, settle my debts." "If one has the right to judge a man by the effect he has over his friends, then you're a very fine fellow, indeed." "Nature designed you and me as gamblers." "It demands nothing of us and yet it asks everything." "'But there was an unsavoury side to Aspers.'" "Burkie!" "'He was siphoning money off from the Clermont out to a numbered account in Switzerland." "His courier was a Mr Fix-It type, who had a useful little fishing boat in Newhaven." "From there, he'd cross to the continent on all sorts of errands for Aspers.'" "You two have met before, haven't you?" "'Let's call this man Ulrich.'" "Come and have a drink with us, there's plenty to discuss." "I won't, thank you, Aspers." "I think I'll be heading home." "As you wish." "In the end, I resigned from the Clermont." "I'd been with Aspers right from the start." "He never spoke to me again." "He said it didn't matter what someone had done." "If they were a friend, you supported them." "He was... an extraordinary man." "Still no sign of the dustmen." "Do you think we should make other arrangements?" "I've paid my rates." "The rubbish will pile up until they return to work and take it away," "As they are obliged to." "Well, I'm just off into town, darling." "Oh, really?" "Who to see?" "A girlfriend." "You've become very friendly with Mark, I hear." "No more than normal." "I'm just friendly in the way I would be with anybody from the club." "Is fucking him normal?" "You said, 'No more than normal.'" "I wondered if you included that within your definition." "I don't know what you've heard." "I know everything that's been going on between you, Jane." "Part of me, to be honest, isn't too bothered about it." "But what did bother me, what bothers me a lot, was the discovery that you are also fucking one of my zoo keepers." "I don't know what to say." "Then just listen." "I am divorcing you." "Because of your adultery, I shall cut you off without a penny and I intend to gain custody of my children." "No!" "You will be denied any and all access to them." "From today onwards, you're dead to us." "John, please." "Get out." "'You know, there was no sentimentality to Aspers.'" "Everything was a game of poker." "Did you know Lucan well?" "Well enough." "I knew her too, Veronica." "I'll be honest with you, I liked the woman." "She had spirit." "Why don't we stay on another night?" "I don't know if you've noticed, but the conditions are distinctly Arctic." "Oh, it's rather fun, isn't it?" "Us all together, wrapped up warm against the cold." "We could take the children to the pier tomorrow." "I'm sure George and Frances would enjoy another day digging their way through to France." "Darling?" "I can't." "I need to drive back down tonight." "Why?" "Please answer me, John." "I have a lunch arranged for tomorrow." "So you've given us two days and that's it?" "Now you must get back to the club and your friends." "Can't we discuss..." "Aah!" "Oh, look at that!" "Yes, I can see, it's splendid." "We owe £43 to our milkman." "He hasn't been paid for six months." "He's told me that he is going to stop delivering." "Harrods has already cancelled our account, because it is so overdue." "Then it's a good thing I'm going to the club to earn us some money." "But what if you lose?" "What happens if you lose and you lose and you lose again?" "Calm down, Veronica." "You're frightening the children." "Oh, what do we do?" "Oh, what do we do?" "Ha ha ha!" "If I didn't have my chums, I don't know what I'd do with myself." "I can hardly bear to live in the same house as Veronica any more." "How did you manage things, ending it with Jane?" "I battered her about the head with a blunt implement." "Metaphorically speaking, of course." "But if a female challenges the primacy of a male silverback gorilla, that is precisely the treatment she will receive." "My weapon was Jane's infidelity." "I'm thinking of moving out, getting a flat on my own." "Not if you don't want to lose everything, you don't." "Whom do you imagine will be given custody of your children?" "Me, of course." "On what grounds?" "On the grounds that I'm their father and that I can better provide for them." "Dear Lucky, as things stand, the best you can hope for is a few weekends here and there with them." "Veronica will be given custody, as the mother." "She currently holds the winning hand." "That is the law, however ridiculous." "You need a reason for the judge to take the children away from her and award them to you." "With Jane, it was her adultery." "I assume Veronica is not conveniently fucking anybody?" "But I'm an..." "I'm an earl, surely the courts would favour me?" "You made Veronica a countess when you married her." "Your title will cut no ice." "My advice is to fight dirty, for you can be sure she will." "Fight dirty, fight nasty and let there be no shame." "The future of your children is at stake." "But how do I fight her?" "What do I do?" "In my limited experience of her," "I imagine Veronica can be a highly-strung woman, can she not?" "Highly strung?" "She's completely paranoid!" "The rages that woman can work herself into." "I wonder if there might not be something in that for you?" "Mr Pearson?" "Mrs Maxwell-Scott?" "I shan't tell you what happened to him, I want to make that quite clear." "Whatever you feel comfortable with." "Do you remember Gone With The Wind?" "There was a caption before the film that said," "'A civilization now no more than a dream remembered.'" "Everything... ..gone with the wind." "I feel like that about the Clermont, and the life we had." "I loved my husband very much, Mr Pearson." "But I did have a bit of a thing about Lucky Lucan." "He was such a romantic figure." "Quite reckless." "John Burke said that things became increasingly bitter between the Lucans in the early '70s." "Of course, we all knew that divorce was looming." "Come on, V, it can't be as bad as all that." "Lots of girls would give their eye teeth to be in your position." "A countess." "A handsome husband on your arm." "Well, he's a loving father, I won't deny that." "But an absent one." "All his time and energy are expended in that club." "And we have no money, Susie." "Neither have Ian and I." "I've always thought money rather overrated." "Never had any respect for it." "The children and I have no better than a hand-to-mouth existence and yet he gambles away thousands every week." "Do you challenge him?" "I have tried to." "But he gets very angry." "He thinks so little of me, it's unbearable." "But, lately, he's even become violent towards me." "What do you mean?" "He has lost his temper and attacked me on more than one occasion." "Of course, I was horrified." "I remember thinking to myself... ..'Why would she lie about a thing like that?" "'" "'I'm sorry you had to hear that, Susie.'" "Veronica has these fantasies." "If anything, it's been her attacking me." "I'm frightened there might be something seriously wrong with her." "I'm worried about the children." "Well, thank goodness it was me she was talking to." "If she starts whispering that sort of thing in the wrong ear, it could be very damaging for you." "Do try to get her down off the precipice." "For your sake, as well as hers." "Thank you, Susie." "You're a saint." "Veronica?" "She's determined to do everything she can to make my life hell." "Oh, come on, Lucky, buy her a bunch of bloody flowers and take her to Monte Carlo for the weekend." "This is no laughing matter, Dominick." "Lucky is engaged in a struggle for the future of his line." "The consequences of defeat are unthinkable." "I've missed this, John, just the two of us spending time together." "I think that's been the heart of all our problems." "You just need to relax, darling, get away for a few days." "You need peace and quiet." "Here you are, darling." "These people will look after you now." "Where are we?" "It's just to give you some peace and quiet, like we said." "I thought we were going to a hotel." "What is this place?" "It's a clinic." "Well, what sort of clinic?" "A psychiatric clinic, Veronica." "I've brought you here so you can get well." "There is nothing wrong with me!" "What has he told you?" "We're just here to help you." "Has he told you that I'm mad?" "Don't make a scene." "There is nothing wrong with me!" "I am not going in there!" "It's for your own good, you stupid woman!" "I must remind you that admission is voluntary, sir." "I do not give my consent." "I refuse to stay here." "Take me home right now!" "Today, tomorrow, next week." "It doesn't matter when, but I will have you committed." "Will you, John?" "Or is a father who gambles away his children's inheritance the one who is actually mentally ill?" "Why do you just sit there all night, watching him?" "Hm?" "I'm waiting to go home with him." "Why?" "You obviously hate gambling." "Why stay if it makes you miserable?" "So that he doesn't go home with somebody like you." "Why can't you just let Johnny enjoy himself?" "You know... you really do look like a little owl, glaring away there in the dark." "And we all know what you look like." "It's amazing how a woman can still love a man who's plainly not in the least bit interested in her, and only wishes to get away..." "How dare you!" "I'm so sorry, Kiki." "I really must apologise for my wife." "Honestly, Lucky, it's you one should feel sorry for, being married to her." "And this was witnessed by everyone?" "The whole room saw it." "Once we'd mopped her down" "I managed to get something in about how V's behaviour is becoming more and more erratic." "This was overheard?" "I'm sure Greville Howard heard..." "and Stoop... and Ian." "Good." "More in the same vein, please." "We need to establish her instability as a generally accepted fact." "Darling..." "Darling?" "What is it, ma'am?" "I ca..." "I ca..." "I can't... breathe." "I can't breathe." "I can't breathe." "Oh, God." "I can't breathe." "Please excuse me, Lord Lucan, but it's the Countess." "What about her?" "She can't breathe." "Well, call the doctor." "Would you mind if I had another, sir?" "My nerves are shot to pieces." "Please do." "We're all very worried about her." "How is she?" "She's much calmer." "You can go and see her if you wish, but please don't tax her too much." "I feel as if we've come to the end of the line, don't you, Doctor?" "What do you mean?" "Well, her behaviour is becoming more and more irrational." "She had a panic attack." "I feel it's best all round, not least for Veronica, if you commit her to an institution." "At least in the short term." "I've known Lady Lucan for some years now and I've witnessed nothing that would cause me to doubt her sanity." "Paranoia." "Suspicions." "False accusations." "All of these can be proved independently." "Even her own family believes she has behavioural problems." "She was suffering from acute anxiety, nothing more." "So you're not going to commit her?" "Well, no." "This is a gross dereliction of duty." "Well, I think the whole thing could have been avoided, if only that doctor had committed Veronica, as he should have done." "It was a gross dereliction of duty on his part." "There was the attack on Kiki at the Clermont." "A whole catalogue of incidents." "Lucky can't have made them all up." "No." "At this point..." "Veronica was quite unhinged." "I've moved into a little flat." "Resumed the bachelor lifestyle." "And what about the children?" "I..." "I see them every other weekend." "Lucky, that's terrible." "Those children are your world." "How can it have come to this?" "There is a plan in place." "Aspers has been helping me." "he's been a tower of strength." "Well, beware Aspers, old thing." "He does tend to come up with his own rules." "And she has no whisper of your intentions?" "No." "I'm certain of it." "Because you must keep her in the dark until the very last second." "And then, be merciless." "'Attack with overwhelming odds, pressing home your advantage to the full.'" "You must win." "You stole my hat, cheeky monkey!" "Ah!" "Now I have you!" "No, you don't!" "Come along, children." "Time to go home." "But I don't want to go home!" "Well, I'm afraid you have to." "Frances, George, Camilla!" "Lord Lucan, were you just passing, sir, or..." "I thought Saturday was your day to see them." "The children will be coming home with me." "But I'm to take them home for supper." "They'll be living with me from now." "They've been made wards of court." "I've been authorised to take them into my care." "Lady Lucan will be receiving a copy of this letter now." "Come on!" "Camilla!" "But what will I say to Lady Lucan?" "Being a policeman, Camilla?" "Where are they?" "He's taken them." "No, no!" "I'm so sorry." "He had people with him." "There was nothing I could do, my lady." "Get off me!" "Where are you going?" "I need to get my babies back." "Get off!" "He had a piece of paper from the court." "You mustn't go round there - not yet." "It'll only make things worse." "Come on." "That's it." "Now..." "I know." "I know." "I thought you'd appreciate some special visitors, Mama." "Oh, come in." "How clever of you, Johnny, to have got them back." "Now into the kitchen." "You know where the sweetie tin is." "Hey-hey!" "Oh, what a relief!" "And they are with you permanently now?" "I have interim custody, pending the full hearing." "Wonderful." "Congratulations, darling." "I've always found Veronica to be a rather pathetic little thing, really." "The whole 'in-law' situation is a lottery, isn't it?" "I find it hard to feel any sympathy for her, John, after the way she treated you." "I'm hoping common sense will prevail and, in time, she'll come to accept the situation and then we can all get on with our lives." "Quite." "One thing, Mama." "I have incurred rather a lot of legal costs thus far." "I find myself temporarily short." "I wonder if I might not ask you for a small loan to help me through this immediate period." "I have four thousand in my deposit account." "I can let you have that." "But I must have it back." "Yes." "Yes, of course." "Thank you." "Hello." "Veronica, it's me, John." "What do you want?" "I don't want anything." "But I think we should be on speaking terms for the sake of the children." "Where are they?" "They're with me." "I want to talk to them." "Now." "I'm sorry you can't." "They're in bed." "Can't I even say good night to them?" "No." "What right have you to just turn up with your heavies and kidnap them?" "I have been granted custody." "I haven't been given a chance to defend myself!" "It was an ex parte application." "All I had to do was persuade the judge in chambers that your mental health puts the children at risk." "But there's nothing wrong with me!" "I'm afraid you're a very sick woman and you need help." "I hate you for what you've done, you are the devil incarnate." "I hate you!" "I hate you." "You are evil, you're pure evil!" "I hope you die!" "I hope you..." "I hope you d..." "I hope you die!" "I am the Countess of Lucan." "I wish to be admitted." "Bill, you're one of my oldest friends and, Christina, you're her sister." "I just want you to know that I don't expect you to appear for me in court." "You must feel free to give evidence for Veronica, if you so wish." "Well, I have thought about this very carefully." "I shall answer honestly." "I think Veronica is capable of looking after the children." "But only if she undergoes medical treatment." "And by that we mean she must be given proper medication." "Yes." "I just want what's best for the children, that's all that guides me." "We have run a number of psychiatric tests and evaluations on you." "Yes." "You've been here with us for a week now." "Do you feel you've learned something from your stay here?" "Yes." "And what is it that you've learned?" "That... it is perfectly normal to have bad feelings." "And indeed your husband intends to make representation as to your mental health during the course of this hearing, does he not?" "I believe so, yes." "He believes you to be, not to put too fine a point upon it, insane, does he not?" "That is what he says, though I do not believe it is what he really thinks." "In the past, he has tried to persuade a doctor to have me committed to an institution and even tried to forcibly commit me himself." "Lady Lucan, did you recently commit yourself voluntarily into the care of the Priory Clinic?" "I did." "And what was the purpose of your stay there?" "I went there to have my mental health evaluated." "And what were the conclusions of the psychiatrist, a Dr..." "Flood, under whose care you were placed?" "He judged me to be sane." "I have no further questions, Your Honour." "But even her own sister says she needs medication!" "We've got tape recordings of her rantings, a dozen affidavits from people swearing that she's stark-staring mad!" "None of them are from professionals." "It was a very clever move, getting herself committed." "A statement from a psychiatrist carries much more weight." "So what are you saying?" "We, er, might be able to get rid of the drunken nanny." "I've sunk a bloody fortune into this." "I rule that the children shall remain wards of court, but in light of Lord Lucan withdrawing his objections, their care and control be restored to Lady Lucan." "I rule that a nanny should reside at the family home to help with domestic arrangements." "The cost of this to be met by Lord Lucan." "I further rule that Lord Lucan be granted access rights to his children..." "..every second weekend." "Look at them." "Aren't they lovely?" "Welcome home!" "Welcome home, come on in." "Come on, then." "Let's get you some tea." "I've got your tea ready, down in the kitchen." "Straight on." "Let's get the kettle on." "Those poor little things." "They were exhausted." "They were asleep the minute their heads hit the pillow." "Mrs Roberts, I don't know what I'd have done without your support during all of this." "Think nothing of it, my lady." "I'm just as pleased as punch that the children are back at home where they belong." "Mrs Roberts, it's all so unfair." "What is, my dear?" "I'm going to have to let you go." "Let me go?" "Why?" "It's Lord Lucan's decision." "Please don't think I had anything to do with it." "But I've always tried my best." "And I've never had cause for any complaint, but he's insisting that you're replaced." "I'm..." "I'm so very sorry." "I really..." "I'm so sorry." "I'll get my... bag and coat." "I can see myself out." "Another one." "Hello." "Hello?" "Who's there?" "Is that you, John?" "Oh, Veronica's was a pyrrhic victory." "She had the children, but what she really wanted was her husband." "I could understand that." "I'm quite ready to die, Mr Pearson, and be with my beloved Ian again, gambling away the housekeeping." "How did Lucan take defeat in the court?" "Well, he was devastated." "He expected to win." "And, on top of it all, the fact that he was a professional gambler went against him." "Well, judges are mostly from the middle classes." "They don't understand rich people who don't have to work for a living." "But after, he was a broken man and bankrupted by his legal expenses." "And the irony of it all... ..was that the court order required that she always employ a nanny." "Hello, I'm Sandra, Sandra Rivett." "I'm here about the vacancy." "Yes, of course." "Do come in." "Thank you." "I can provide references, if necessary, I've parted on good terms with all my previous employers." "That's fine." "The agency that sent you is a reputable one." "I'm... afraid there's no man about the house." "My husband and I are separated." "We've got that in common, too." "Roger and I split up a while back, but we're still friends though." "Unfortunately, my situation isn't so amicable." "Oh, dear." "My husband... hates me." "There's no other way of putting it." "Well, I'd quite understand if you didn't want to put yourself into such a difficult environment." "Oh, things like that don't bother me in the slightest, ma'am." "I just love being with the little ones." "Everything else goes right over my head." "Perhaps I should take a leaf out of your book." "It's nine o'clock." "Tea time?" "Oh, yes, please." "Hello?" "Hello?" "I've been..." "I've been getting these calls lately, at all times." "Well, I'm sure it's him, he's just trying to torment me." "Well, you mustn't give in to him, ma'am." "I'd feel a lot more comfortable if you'd just call me Veronica." "You've got to fight back, show him he's not got you where he wants you." "What should I do?" "Well, let me answer it." "Hello." "Look, whoever this is, we've been on to the police and they've put a trace on the line, so they know who you are." "Now fuck off!" "See?" "It's easy." "Once Lucky saw that Veronica wasn't going to crack, he became a changed man." "He wasn't so much fun?" "He'd lost his children, Mr Pearson." "That's no fun at all." "He was bitter and angry." "He couldn't believe the court case had gone against him, none of us could." "Oh, I don't know." "Is this really necessary?" "We're just going over old ground, again and again." "Playing with ghosts and shadows." "All the same, I would like to know what happened in those next few weeks." "Well, things began to take shape in Acapulco." "Jimmy Goldsmith was 40." "And he flew everyone out there for a huge party." "Jimmy had been having a long affair with Mark Birley's wife, Annabel." "She paid Lucky a lot of attention on that trip." "I think she felt sorry for him." "Can't you fight it, Lucky?" "Can't you challenge the judgment?" "There's no point." "The law is hopelessly stacked against fathers." "Even if I wanted to, the last hearing's wiped me out financially." "Couldn't you speak to Jimmy, see if he can help?" "Lucky's becoming a total bore, just banging on and on endlessly about that bloody wife of his." "He is rather monopolising the ladies." "Come now, Jimmy, how did you react when your mother-in-law tried to take your daughter away from you?" "I fought with every fibre of my being." "That's just the point, Lucky's not fighting." "He's just fucking whining." "Come on, you two." "Come on." "Stop gazing adoringly into each other's eyes and have a photo." "Right, say cheese." "Here we go." "Cheese." "Cheese." "I have to tell you, Lucky, that sympathy amongst your fellow primates is running thin." "You've become apathetic and accepting." "I don't know what to do, Aspers." "She holds all the aces." "All I do know is that I can't go on living like this." "My children torn from me." "I'm your friend." "But I cannot help you, if you will not help yourself." "Typical Aspers." "I'm convinced he was involved." "Both before and afterwards." "He knew... how to... arrange that type of thing." "He had a man to sort things out for him - there was a boat." "Somewhere on the south coast." "In Newhaven?" "Burkie mentioned something about Newhaven." "And you say you've no doubt Aspers was involved?" "We're going to have to leave it there, Mr Pearson." "Oh, of course." "Perhaps we can pick it up again tomorrow?" "Or maybe next week?" "I've said all I'm going to say." "I've said too much, in fact." "I don't wish to discuss this any further." "But " "Please, don't call any more." "Losing Susie was a blow." "But there was still enough in police and court records and old witness statements to piece together what happened next." "Lucan borrowed an old car from his friend Michael Stoop." "He told him the battery on his Mercedes was playing up." "But he kept this from Veronica." "Now he could park outside the house without her knowing he was there." "There we are." "OK." "Can I help with anything, sir?" "How do you like the new nanny?" "Sandra's nice." "She's funny." "She makes Mummy laugh." "She went out on Thursday night, didn't come home till late." "Thursday's her night off." "She has a boyfriend who works in a pub." "Right, who wants to see some wild animals?" "Me!" "OK." "That big one is the alpha male." "He's the head of the whole family, the patriarch." "He must provide leadership, but, just as importantly, he must defend his family." "They all rely on him." "And, occasionally, he will receive a challenge to his power, which he must confront and defeat." "And, in this way, the natural order of things is maintained." "Come along." "I want to see a lion!" "I want to see an elephant!" "Any moment now..." "Bloody power cuts." "How are miners given primacy in this country and yet the nobility and the gentry, families who have ruled for centuries, are hounded and taxed into extinction?" "The only solution is for her to..." "..disappear." "To somehow vanish off the face of the earth." "The children would be mine." "I wouldn't have the cost of maintaining two households and there would be none of the baggage associated with divorce." "I don't believe it would even be particularly questioned." "People know how erratic her behaviour is." "I would simply say that she had gone." "I know not where." "You must be under no illusion, Lucky, as to what it is you would be getting into should you choose to go down that path." "It would be a gamble, pure and simple." "Her life against yours." "If you win, the way is open for a happy continuation of your life." "The... natural order of things would have been restored and you would, of course, be free to breed again and increase your blood stock." "But if you lose, your position would be untenable." "Were you ever, say, to stand trial in a court of law, the impact upon your children of seeing their father in the dock, accused of engineering their mother's disappearance, would be catastrophic." "Your life would be forfeit." "You're right, Aspers." "It's a gamble." "Good morning, Sandra." "Morning." "Did you sleep well?" "I actually did, for once." "Not too bad." "See you all later." "Er..." "Veronica?" "Yes?" "Could I ask a favour?" "Yes, of course." "Well, it's just my boyfriend's working Thursdays now." "I wondered, could I switch my night off for another night?" "Yes, of course, any night you wish." "Still going strong with him, then?" "Oh, yeah." "Well, things might be going a bit too fast, actually." "Thanks." "Soldier?" "No, no." "Not soldier." "Erm..." "Hello, it's Lord Lucan." "Just ringing to reserve a table for dinner tonight." "Yes, sir." "What time?" "11 o'clock, please." "Sorry it's a bit late." "Usual table." "Thank you." "Dominick, I've reserved a table at the Clermont for 11." "11." "I've asked Greville, Daniel and Sarah to join us" " after they've been to the theatre." " Oh, good idea." "There's an exhibition next week." "I thought you might like to come along." "I have to fly, old thing." "Lots of running about to do." "All right." "Speak to you then." "OK." "Bye-bye." "He's asked me to move in with him!" "Are you going to?" "Well, I'm a bit worried it's too soon." "And I've made that mistake before in the past." "Besides, I'm enjoying myself too much here with you and the children." "You mustn't let us stand in your way, though." "There we go." "That's a good girl." "Let's get these knots out before bed." "Do you want to say good night to Mummy?" "Come on, give Mummy a kiss." "How come she gets to stay up?" "Cos I'm older than you." "Come on, off to bed now." "Mwah." "Kiss for me, please, Camilla?" "Sleep well." "Do you want me to park her up?" "No." "I have a dinner booking later." "I just wondered if any of my crowd had arrived yet." "A few of them, sir." "Very good." "I'll see you later." "We'll be back tomorrow." "..whether it's the case for a doctor or a policeman... ..or a priest..." "Sandra?" "Sandra?" "Are you all right down there?"