He narrowed his eyes. ‘I remember … You were wearing brown Oxfords, grey trousers, a white shirt and a pullover knit vest.’

‘The first time we saw each other I was in bathing shorts, actually.’

‘I’m talking about when we first spoke. The first thing you said to me was “nearly fifteen”.’

‘Possibly.’

‘You were fascinating. Not quite pure, not quite wild. And totally naïve.’ He grinned. ‘We knew we had to have you.’

I hesitated for a second, unsure whether to feel flattered by that or not. Freddie waited for me to react. I raised my glass and he followed.

‘To friendship,’ I said.

‘To friendship.’

Later that week my father knocked on the door of my office. ‘Do you have a minute?’

‘Of course, come in.’

He sat opposite me, breathing heavily, waving away my offer of a drink. ‘It’s the stairs – takes me half the day to recover.’ He coughed twice into his handkerchief, then folded it and put it in his pocket. ‘I want to discuss my retirement with you.’

‘I still don’t know –’

He held up his hand. ‘This isn’t about whether or not you’ll be taking over as Director. I’d like to leave the railway in a better condition than I found it – some of the stations need a bit of sprucing up. We could build new ones, too.’ He shifted in his chair. ‘We could make it look really first-class, something other countries would be envious of.’

I looked down at my hands.

‘You don’t like the idea?’

‘I don’t know if there’s much call for it.’

‘Theo.’ My father leaned forwards. ‘Do you know what Churchill said about the line?’

‘He thought it was a brilliant conception.’

‘He was right. The Germans were building their own line from Port Tanga, and the people at the top had the foresight to see that the country with the means of transportation would control the African interior—’

‘Which was unoccupied at the time. I know.’

‘Nothing could stop us,’ he said, as if I hadn’t spoken. ‘In spite of lions, famine, war; in spite of five years of parliamentary debate, we kept building. It’s more than a train and track – it’s a symbol of our enterprising spirit, and our ability to overcome obstacles.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘Do you really see?’ Sweat was forming on his upper lip and he wiped it away. ‘We owe it to the visionaries, to keep up their good work.’

‘Why me, then?’

‘I thought you might want a distraction.’

‘Yes, of course.’