Giles Waterfield

On Midsummer's Day the Director of BRIT (the Museum of British History) is getting ready to launch a new exhibition at a Gala Dinner. As the day passes the tension mounts: will the temperamental chef perform well, have the right number of guests been invited, and what is so peculiar about the star portrait?

Ellen enters into service at Markham Thorpe to find life below stairs full of backbiting and gossip. Then there’s the relationship between masters and servants, which is not as it should be. In the midst of all this is the formidable housekeeper Mrs Rundell.