‘Piet’s been back to all the key organisations. Last month, he put a proposal to several of the neighbouring farms. The idea was that they would share anti-poaching patrols. Create a game corridor through their land. Make costs more reasonable and extend the conservation area. Everyone keeps telling him it’s a great plan, but no one actually wants to cough up.’

‘It’s so slow, this business of finance,’ Sarah said. ‘Allie Briggs says that some of these agencies even have a policy of holding up grants. By the time they’re ready to write the cheque, the problem might have gone away. Or the applicants are in their graves.’

‘She has a point there,’ Anthony agreed. ‘Anyhow, on a more cheerful note, you look very well, Sarah. I admire you for coming back, after what happened last time.’

‘Well, as Hannah says, we can’t let them beat us.’ She gazed out the window. ‘I spoke to Camilla on the phone about a week ago. She sounded . . . I don’t know. Are you going to see her on your way to the States?’

‘Not sure yet.’ Anthony stared at the road ahead, plainly uncomfortable.

‘Have you talked to her recently?’ Sarah wanted to gauge his feelings, to understand where Camilla stood with him.

‘No. I’ve been out on safari most of the time since you left.’ Anthony sounded defensive. ‘I did talk to her directly after the raid, you know. She said she had a good specialist. That everything would be fine. Tell me about Ireland.’

It was obvious that he did not want to discuss Camilla. Could she really have meant so little to him? Sarah wondered. A meaningless affair, unimportant in his scheme of things? They had seemed so passionately involved, so intensely aware of one another.

‘I thought you were going to her twenty-first birthday,’ she persisted. ‘She seemed upset on the phone, but I couldn’t get to the bottom of it. I hope she’s all right.’ As soon as she said the words, Sarah realised that she should have tried harder herself.

‘I saw George in Nairobi last week,’ Anthony said. ‘He hadn’t seen her lately. Hannah said she wrote several times and got no reply. If she doesn’t want to stay in touch, there’s not much anyone can do.’

Sarah did not feel she could push him any further. It was really none of her business. Looking at it logically, Camilla had spent very little time with him since their affair had begun. But logic had nothing to do with love, and they had been friends for years. Still smarting from her own rejection by Camilla, she abandoned the subject.

‘What about the police investigations at Langani?’