On Friday morning my father said he’d take the afternoon off to show us around Nairobi. By midday the sun was fierce, and the lobby, where we were supposed to meet, was busy. I escaped into the garden and found my mother and Maud already out there. They were with another couple, a tall, dignified-looking man with thinning hair and a bristly moustache, and a slim, serious woman with dark, bobbed hair and a pretty, oval-shaped face. He was probably a little younger than my father, and she was probably a little younger than my mother. They were all standing on the garden path, and the woman was naming the flowers growing in the beds nearby.

My mother waved me over. ‘This is my eldest,’ she said. ‘Theo, say hello to Sir Edward and Lady Joan Grigg. Sir Edward is the Governor of Kenya.’

‘How do you do?’ I said.

Lady Joan looked me up and down and smiled at my mother. ‘I’m glad we don’t have a daughter,’ she said, which I thought was an odd remark.

‘Joanie’s trying to twist your mother’s arm,’ Sir Edward said to me. When he talked his moustache bristled even more. ‘She wants her to help out with the Welfare League she’s going to create.’

My mother spread her hands helplessly. ‘I don’t know anything about nursing or midwifery. What exactly could I do?’

‘Fundraising.’

‘I don’t have much experience of that, either.’

‘Every woman’s had to extract money from someone at some point,’ Lady Joan said. ‘And it’s a good cause.’ She nodded at me and Maud. ‘You’ve had children of your own. White settlers think the natives don’t feel pain when giving birth, but that’s completely ridiculous. We need to provide proper midwifery training for them.’

Sir Edward made a show of looking at his wristwatch. ‘I think I’ll head back to Government House. Leave you ladies to discuss the … finer points.’

‘No, don’t go,’ Lady Joan said. She turned back to my mother. ‘I won’t force you, of course. Just think about it.’

‘Well …’

‘She won’t leave you alone now,’ Sir Edward said, laying a hand on his wife’s arm. ‘It’s much easier to give in, believe me.’ He looked at Lady Joan as if he admired her and she rolled her eyes.

I felt the sun beating down on my head and shoulders, and wondered how much longer we were going to stand around.

‘You must come over for supper,’ Lady Joan said. ‘I can put my case across properly.’

‘Do you have any wild animals?’ Maud asked.

‘I’m afraid not,’ Sir Edward said. ‘We have lots of dogs, though. Do you like dogs? One of our bitches has just got pregnant.’

‘I like dogs,’ Maud said solemnly.

‘Perhaps we can find a puppy for you,’ Sir Edward said.