The budget for the house was tight, but they had all agreed on one extravagance and Raphael bought three horses. The house fronted on to the beach where Sarah could remember her childhood years, trekking out with Tim on their grandfather’s ponies. It was he who had taught them to ride, the first time they came home on leave from Kenya. The low tide exposed a long sand spit, and it was an ideal place to learn, to rejoice in a first gallop down the long stretch of beach, shouting aloud with the excitement of it, the speed, the slap of the pony’s hooves on the wet sand, the wind rush and the snorting, and the swish and jingle of leather and harness. It had always been a special place for Sarah and her brother.

‘I’d love to ride after lunch,’ she said to Tim, after several days wrestling with grit and plaster.

‘That’s a grand idea,’ he said. ‘You certainly deserve it. How about it, Deirdre? It’s time you learned to ride. We could do a gentle little excursion on the beach.’

He was standing behind her, and he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him, but she made a small exclamation and moved out of his embrace.

‘You know I don’t care for horses,’ she said, her tone sharp. ‘You’d best go with Sarah. I’d only slow you down.’

Tim turned away, but not before his sister registered his hurt expression. They rode out across the dunes towards the ruins of Mullaghmore Castle, where they cantered into the surf and let the salt spray fly in their faces. When they turned for home through the incoming tide, the sky was glowing red above Ben Bulben, and seals slid off the spar into the water ahead of them. Leading the horses up from the beach in the autumn sunshine, Sarah felt very close to her brother, and she prayed that he would be happy. The house was bathed in the mellow light of late afternoon, its classic proportions graceful in the surrounding landscape. A bank of hydrangeas in full bloom flanked the French windows, and the glass panes reflected the line of distant surf beyond the headland. It was ideal, she realised at last, for her parents at this time in their lives. And a perfect place for Tim and Deirdre to bring up children.