‘It’s just that I wonder if I’ll ever get back here again.’ Camilla did not seem to have noticed Jan’s attempt at humour and her response was directed at Lottie. The glass of wine she was drinking too quickly loosened her tongue. ‘Once we leave school it will all be so far away. Out of reach for me, at any rate. I don’t know how I can be sure of coming back. You’ve been here for generations. You’ll always be here. And Sarah’s parents are staying on after Independence. But my father could be posted to the other side of the world next year.’

‘My dad has always warned us that we don’t really belong in Kenya, that we’re here for just a few privileged years.’ Sarah was shocked at the sight of Camilla, forlorn and close to tears. ‘But he’s been asked to stay on, and he’s delighted. And even though my brother’s in medical school in Ireland, I wouldn’t be surprised if he returned too. So maybe we do belong here after all. I’m certainly coming back to work in Kenya. You could too, Camilla, if you wanted to. Don’t you have any idea where your father will be sent next?’

‘Sometimes people like Father spend a year or two in the Foreign Office in London after an appointment like this,’ Camilla said.

‘I wouldn’t complain about being in London.’ Hannah’s voice was dreamy. ‘All the theatres and concerts, the museums and shops. And afterwards you might be going off to live in an exotic place you’ve never even heard of.’

‘Father will probably be made a governor or a high commissioner one day, and he’ll be sent to some far-flung colony. Meantime, Mother will love London if we do wind up back there. She’ll be in her element at Ascot and Henley and organising bridge lunches.’ Camilla sounded scornful.

‘If you go to London, I’m coming to visit you,’ Hannah said. ‘And after that they’ll have a time of it, trying to figure out how to keep me down on the farm.’

‘My daughter will travel, yes. But she’ll always want to come back here,’ Jan said. ‘We can all be sure of that.’

‘You know, this is the place where I’ve been the happiest and had the best days of my entire life.’ Camilla’s voice was shaky. ‘Nothing will ever be like Langani and the times we’ve spent here, where I’m part of the family.’