‘You can drop me here,’ he said. ‘I’ll walk.’ Now that he was here he was regretting his decision to come and wanted to put off the moment when he would be trapped in a room with all that talk.

‘No,’ she said. ‘I’ll take you right to the house. It’s miles.’

The drive was like a country lane, leading through woodland to open lawns and a formal garden. There was a view of a square eighteenth-century house with long windows and tall chimneys. A flight of impressive stone steps, almost the width of the house, led to the front door. Marcus Grenville stood there, welcoming another guest. He shook the man’s hand and put his arm round his shoulder, the professional politician.

George hesitated by the car, wondering whether it would be worth taking the telescope and tripod with him. If this was a conference on the countryside there should be an opportunity to see something of what they were discussing. He decided against it; binoculars would be sufficient. Grenville saw the other guest into the house and bounded down the steps to greet them.

‘George,’ he said. ‘ My dear old friend. How kind of you to come!’ He took George’s hand and held on to it, beaming, as if he were some statesman waiting for all the photo-journalists to get their pictures. Molly had a sudden sense of tension and unease. Why was he trying so hard? Then she told herself that he was a politician and all politicians were desperate to please.

When she arrived at Back Rigg it was in full sunlight but still the house looked cold. Whenever Molly imagined the place it was in winter with banks of snow on the fells, the windows frosted and the sky as grey as the stone walls and the slate roof. The place had deteriorated since Molly had last been there for Fred’s funeral four years before. She was shocked. The window frames were rotting and there were slates missing from the roof.

What sort of landlord is Grenville, allowing an old woman to live in a place like this? she thought, the sight adding to her prejudice about his politics and his personality. And then she felt guilty because it was so long since she had visited.