They offered a critical analysis of each dish as it was served. Camilla found some passable wine in an Indian shop in the village, and stored it in the paraffin fridge. She paid a local boy to climb the surrounding palm trees and bring down green coconuts, full of their own sweet water to which she added gin or vodka for coastal cocktails. After dinner they sat on the beach and watched the moon rise pale and mystical out of the Indian Ocean.

They talked for hours of the circumstances that had forced them apart. Hannah told of her anguish about abandoning Lottie in a place where her father was no more than a hired hand. At last she admitted the unpalatable truth about her sudden departure from Rhodesia, and found comfort in her friends’ support. Time would set balm to the wound, they assured her, and then she would be able to let forgiveness in. Sarah recounted the humiliation of her experience with Mike, her anxiety over her father’s health, and the sad knowledge that her parents would never return to her childhood home in Mombasa. Camilla described her devastation at being rejected by drama school, and tried to explain her sense of isolation in London, despite her modelling successes. They retired to bed, sunburned and glowing, lulled into sleep by the swirling, rolling music of the sea on the distant reef. They were so close, so tuned in to one another, aware that they had withstood an assault that would have destroyed a weaker bond. But their friendship had been born again, rekindled and nourished by the peace of this place and the slow rhythm of their days in the sun. Nothing could break them apart now.

They were met by George Broughton-Smith at Nairobi Airport, and taken to his flat. There was hardly time to bathe and dress before Sarah heard the doorbell, followed by the sound of voices, and ice clinking in glasses. She tried to calm herself, standing in front of the bathroom mirror, clutching the edge of the basin and counting to ten. As she came into the sitting room she knew that Piet was saying something to her, but she could barely hear his voice for the thumping of her heart. When he leaned forward and kissed her cheek she felt tipsy before she had even lifted her drink. When Camilla appeared, there was a moment of awkwardness as she faced Piet across the room, but he gave no sign that he harboured any ill feeling. No one mentioned Marina, or Jan and Lottie and their self-imposed exile. But Raphael Mackay’s health and his future were of genuine concern.