George nodded. ‘That was foolish,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t matter now. Let me introduce you to a friend of mine who’s involved in the running of the Royal Court Theatre. He’s a sympathetic young man with a great many contacts, and I think you’d like him. If you don’t want to apply to another drama school maybe you could start out working backstage, and go on from there. There are plenty of outstanding actors who’ve come up that way. They start out with small parts and as understudies, until a suitable role comes up. And then they’re on their way.’

‘I don’t know, Daddy. Right now I haven’t the heart to think about it. But I do have some good photo bookings coming up. As many as I would like, in fact. I’m lucky enough to have one of the best agents in London – his name’s Tom Bartlett. I have a shoot in Scotland next week with Ricky Lane. We’re doing clothes for Queen – first time my photo will be in their pages, and maybe on the cover. And there’s talk of going to Paris again in June, and to New York in the autumn.’ Camilla raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. ‘I’m getting to be quite famous, you know. People recognise me in restaurants and give me the best tables. Strangers even come up to me in the street these days. It can be a bore, actually.’

‘But it’s not what you want to do, ultimately. You mustn’t be tempted to give up on your acting ambitions, just because of one rejection.’

‘I’m not giving up. I’ll get there in the end.’

‘I’m glad to hear you say that, darling. Stick with it, even if it’s tough, and I’ll be so proud of you. What are your immediate plans?’

‘I hope I can go to Kenya for August and early September. It’s something we promised each other – Hannah, Sarah and I. We said we’d go back to celebrate our twenty-first birthdays, and our newly discovered wisdom.’ She tilted her head and smiled at her father, but her mouth was lopsided and sad. ‘That’s supposing they still want me to come.’

‘Why wouldn’t they, for heaven’s sake?’ George was surprised.

But Camilla could not tell him that she had seen Marina and her black lover, blatantly fawning over one another in one of London’s best-known night spots, while he was away in Kenya or working to the point of exhaustion in Whitehall. The risk of hurting her father, the one steady element in her life, the person that she loved and trusted, was too great. Nor could she confess what she had subsequently done to Piet and Sarah. Her mind shied away from the memory and she forced her attention back to the moment.