‘Thank you. Thank you, my dearest, most wonderful friends. Sarah, some of today has been so hard for you, but one day I know you’ll have the same joy I have now. Camilla, I wanted so much for you to see me in my beautiful dress. There are times when love is so close that you don’t even have to go around the corner. I know that now. And I love you both.’

Then she was standing at the door of the car, laughing, her arm curving in an arch, her wedding bouquet soaring into the air behind her. Camilla heard the roar of anticipation, but as she raised her hand she saw Sarah reaching upwards, and she dropped back and faded into the cheering crowd. The car slid away down the drive, tin cans and balloons trailing noisily in the dust. Sarah stood watching them disappear, her hands gripping Hannah’s flowers, hardly aware of the press of people around her.

‘What about that?’ Anthony was smiling down at her.

‘Perfect.’ She looked up at the sky. It would be getting light soon. All at once, she wanted to be away from the party. ‘I think I might go for a drive,’ she said. ‘I’ve had enough drinking and dancing. I need to clear my head.’

‘You’re going up to the ridge.’

Sarah glanced at him in surprise. ‘Yes. I did think of it.’

‘Can I drive you?’

She was about to refuse, but he cut in. ‘I won’t get in your way, but I would like to visit Piet’s grave. What you did with the cairn and the tree – it’s beautiful. Just what he’d have liked.’

‘I’m going to find Camilla,’ she said. ‘Then we’ll leave.’

They drove out into the sunrise, savouring the teeming life around them. A flock of vulturine guinea fowl were having an early-morning dust bath in the middle of the track. The birds rushed ahead of the Land Rover, deep blue heads and black-and-white spotted plumage glistening in the growing light. Herds of game moved out across the open plain to graze. When they reached the track at the base of the ridge, they saw the car.

‘She came to say goodbye.’ Sarah’s eyes were full of tears.

They started up the path, helping each other over the rough ground, pausing to take in deep breaths and to touch one another lightly for comfort. At the top, Lars and Hannah were standing together, their arms wound around each other. They showed no surprise and they did not speak, but simply smiled their welcome. Anthony and Camilla walked to the edge of the boulders, to give Sarah some moments to herself.

‘It’s magnificent up here,’ Anthony said, his voice thick with emotion. ‘It’s a place of true peace. I can feel him with us, watching us.’