There was an awkward silence. Lottie had often wondered why Camilla’s parents had never appeared at any school events, in all the years their daughter had been there. And although the three girls had enjoyed holidays at the farm, and in the rambling Mackay house at the coast, they had never been asked to stay in the residence provided for the Broughton-Smiths in Nairobi. Camilla was vague whenever she was questioned about her family.

‘It’s different being an only child,’ she’d say. ‘My parents aren’t set up for looking after children. Father is always so busy with the Governor and all his official stuff. But he writes me wonderful letters, and I keep them all. As for Mother – she’s a nervous person. Highly strung, Daddy says. She could never drive up here on her own like your mother does, Sarah. And she has so much to do in Nairobi, what with all the parties and charity things.’

As the friendship between them had grown, both Hannah and Sarah had learned not to ask questions about Camilla’s family situation. She was plainly embarrassed by her inability to repay their hospitality, and the only occasion on which she had tried had been less than successful. George Broughton-Smith was accompanying the Governor on a tour of the highlands and he arranged for his daughter and her two friends to have lunch with him in the nearby town of Nanyuki.

He had done his best to make conversation with the three girls, but it had been a stiff occasion. The meal was punctuated by bursts of chatter and forced laughter, followed by awkward silences that seemed to stretch and amplify the sounds of their eating. After lunch George gave them each twenty shillings pocket money and took them into town where they searched for something to buy in the Indian dukas while he read a newspaper in a local café. The drive back to school in a magnificent Bentley was the only part of the day they remembered with any pleasure.

‘Well, like it or not, Lady Camilla, I’ll be dropping in on you. In jolly old England,’ Piet said.

‘You’re going to England?’ Hannah stared at her brother.

‘Not England exactly. But Pa is thinking I could do a year at the agricultural college in Aberdeen.’ He was grinning, enjoying the surprise in his sister’s face. ‘It’s expensive for us right now, though, so I might go to work on a farm in Scotland instead. On an estate with some relations of the Mackenzies from Mau Narok, and—’

Hannah turned towards her mother and saw that Lottie’s face was glowing with satisfaction. So Ma had known too, had probably been instrumental in this decision. They’d all known except her. She felt resentful.