Chapter 1

Caroline Bingham’s mother and father had died when she was still very young and she had been brought up, thereafter, by her grandfather, a man she had seen only during school holidays, for the old gentleman had sent his granddaughter away to boarding school soon after her bereavement.

He had always been a kindly, if somewhat distant old gentleman, scrupulously careful to see to it that all her material needs were met. Her times during the holidays in his big London town house had always been happy ones. The old man had possessed a large and interesting collection of friends, all of whom had been kind to the girl, never failing to make a fuss of her when she was in residence.

She had greatly enjoyed her time at school, after a difficult first few months. When she was having a particularly bad time at the hands of a bullying pair of classmates, a more senior girl had seen her distress and taken her under her wing, leaving the two bullies somewhat the worse for wear and much too scared to bother Caroline again. The same older girl had also encouraged the shy young Caroline to come out of her shell and attend an optional class in self-defense as part of a drive to boost her self-esteem.