Lars came out to the viewing platform with Piet but Sarah hung back, strangely reluctant to join them. It was Camilla who drew her into the circle on the balcony.

‘So what do you think, on second viewing, Lady Camilla?’ Piet asked, surveying his domain with unabashed pride.

‘No one who comes here will ever forget it,’ Camilla said. ‘It’s an extraordinary, powerful place that grabs at your emotions and draws you in. I think you should be hugely proud of the way you’ve constructed the buildings so they blend with the rocks and trees, and the rise of the land. It’s beautiful.’

They sat watching the stars light up the bowl of the sky and listening to the sounds of the wind and the high drone of night insects. Only Sarah was silent, gazing down at the waterhole, her face troubled. Piet turned to her, questioning.

‘Not like you to be so quiet.’

‘I like to listen sometimes. You should be grateful.’

He laughed, and she wondered if he could possibly have forgotten kissing her here in this same place, such a short time ago. Since then she had waited patiently for him to take another step, watching for any small sign that he loved her. But although he had often chosen to sit beside her in camp, or on their game drives, he had made no further attempt to touch her or to turn their friendship into something deeper. She wanted desperately for him to say something. Anything that would confirm what she hoped was true. When they left the lodge, Piet held the door of his Land Rover open, and asked Sarah to come with him. As they bumped along the rough track, and he leaned across and placed a hand on her knee.

‘I’m happy you’ll be back quickly,’ he said. ‘There are so many things we have to talk about, you and I, when we’re together again. When there’s just the two of us.’ He gestured up towards the ridge. ‘We’ll sit up there and talk. I hope we’ll do that very soon.’

She felt light-headed with joy and he smiled at her undisguised happiness and squeezed her hand, before turning his attention back to the road.

‘Where’s Mwangi with the drinks? And where on earth are the dogs?’ Piet was the last to join the group in the sitting room before dinner. ‘They’re always around looking for a snack before we eat.’

‘Lars had to go over to the Murray farm,’ Hannah said. ‘Probably he took them.’

‘He’d never take all of them,’ Piet said. ‘I think I should send Simon to look for them, or go myself.’