‘I don’t like being in a crush of people.’ She dribbled some water onto the dry earth and turned to look up at him. ‘Being squashed up with all the crowds at The Great Lafayette’s funeral procession was very difficult for me. I thought you would understand that.’

He nodded. ‘I suppose.’

‘Is there something else?’

He pushed a mess of misbehaving curls out of his eyes. ‘Well, I wanted to ask you something, actually. It’s the Daily Mail Circuit of Britain on Saturday.’

‘What’s that?’

‘A contest between thirty aeroplanes, like a race in the air. It’s about a thousand miles around the country in a circle. It starts and finishes at the famous Brooklands racing circuit, near London.’

‘I’ve never heard of it, so it can’t be that famous.’ Ann drizzled water into the centre of the bed, giving the mint and the lavender a good drink.

‘There’s a prize of ten thousand pounds.’

She stopped what she was doing and looked up at him. ‘How much? That sounds like an awful lot. Are you sure?’

‘I’m certain. They set off in a few days’ time. And I want to go and watch the aeroplanes land up at Redford Barracks. Father doesn’t approve of the race at all, he thinks it is terribly dangerous, so I’ve told him that Daniel and I are going out for a walk.’ He watched her progress with the watering. ‘But the thing is, I might be back a bit later if the pilots are delayed.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know, all sorts of reasons. Anything could happen. There are forest fires in Perthshire at the moment, and with all this heat there might be thunderstorms. Apparently, this month is the hottest July ever recorded.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘I’m relying on you to make up an excuse for me if anyone notices I’m back late.’

‘Can I come with you?’

‘No, silly. That would mean there won’t be anyone to cover, will there?’

‘I’m not silly. And I want to come.’

‘I can’t take you, Annie Bee.’

‘I would be very quiet.’

‘I’m sorry, but if you come too then I will get caught. They aren’t due to land until three o’clock so I think I’ll be fine.’ He bent down and pulled at some leaves, trying to be helpful.

She slapped his hand. ‘Stop it! You don’t know what you’re doing. That’s my thyme plant you’re pulling at. She won’t like being messed with.’

‘I’m going to see them, whether you help me or not. But I’m hoping that if I’m late you’ll be able to distract everyone. I promise I’ll do something nice for you to make up for it.’

Ann aimed a stream of water at the curled parsley.