‘I haven’t finished,’ she said, ‘take them both away, actually.’

‘For God’s sake.’ The glass stayed upright for a moment through the air, then gravity set in and it tipped the other way, splattering its contents on the floor before hitting the stone hearth and shattering. I lowered my arm. Bulawayo looked blank, Maud, shocked.

‘I’m sorry I nagged you,’ my mother said eventually, then left the room.

Bulawayo knelt in front of the hearth and started picking up the shards that had fallen outside the fire. My cheeks burned as I watched him.

‘Don’t do that,’ I said. ‘It was my fault.’

‘I can do it, Bwana.’

‘Bulawayo, bring some water, some soap and a cloth,’ Maud said quietly.

‘Yes, Mama.’

She joined me by the hearth and placed a small crystal into the handkerchief I’d laid out.

‘I know you’re worried about letting Father down,’ she said, ‘but he’ll understand.’

I took her hand. ‘That’s what you really think?’

‘Of course,’ she said, squeezing my fingers.

Relief washed through me that it was alright between us again; I wanted to ask her if she’d felt the distance between us too, then from outside we heard barking and twigs snapping and she turned her head, smiling.

‘They’re back,’ she said.

A few weeks later I was locking up the office when I heard a soft knocking on the outer door. Lucy was standing outside, wearing a red satin dress that gave a warm glow to her throat and face. We hadn’t been alone since Christmas, almost a month ago, and I felt a jolt of pleasure, even as I remembered saying goodbye to Sylvie a few days earlier, and how she’d stretched out naked across the bed and smiled her smile at me.

‘Hello stranger,’ I said. I pulled Lucy towards me, trying to assuage the guilt I was feeling.

‘Hello,’ she said, letting me kiss her. ‘I thought you might like to have supper?’

‘There’s nothing I want more.’

I felt her body relax in my arms. ‘Good. Where shall we go?’

‘The Club? Carlton’s? You choose. I just want to stare at you all night.’

She laughed. ‘Carlton’s then.’

We hailed a rickshaw and climbed into the back, sitting close together. I wondered briefly if Sylvie would be jealous, seeing us together like this, then brought my attention back to Lucy.

‘Where have you been hiding yourself?’ I asked.

‘I just wanted to think something through,’ she said.

‘That sounds serious.’ I slipped my hand around her waist and bent my head towards her to nuzzle her neck. She didn’t move, but her cheeks flamed up. ‘Did you have to think for so long?’

‘Did you miss me then?’

‘Of course I did. Nairobi’s been lifeless without you.’

‘You could have gone away at the weekends.’

‘I did.’

She looked at me casually. ‘Who did you see?’