‘Are you? Why? Because of the vulgarity or what? And what,’ Mrs Carstairs continued, ‘does Nankivell mean by saying “2 lbs bst fil.” when we never order fillet let alone best? Stewing steak at the utmost. He must be mad.’

‘It’s not only the vulgarity, Dulcie. It’s the effect on the village.’

‘What effect? And threepence ha’penny is twelve, two, four. It doesn’t even begin to make sense.’

‘It’s not that I don’t rejoice for the boy. I do. I rejoice like anything and remember it in my prayers.’

‘Of course you do,’ said his wife.

‘That’s my whole point. One should be grateful and not jump to conclusions.’

‘I shall speak to Nankivell. What conclusions?’

‘Some ass,’ said the Rector, ‘has put it into the Treherns’ heads that – O dear! – that there’s been a – a –’

‘Miracle?’

‘Don’t! One shouldn’t. It’s not a word to be bandied about. And they are bandying it about, those two.’

‘So much for Nankivell and his rawhide,’ she said, turning to the next bill. ‘No, dear, I’m sure it’s not. All the same it is rather wonderful. ’

‘So are all recoveries. Witnesses to God’s mercy, my love.’

‘Were the Treherns drunk?’

‘Yes,’ he said shortly. ‘As owls. The Romans know how to deal with these things. Much more talk and we’ll be in need of a devil’s advocate.’

‘Don’t fuss,’ said Mrs Carstairs, ‘I expect it’ll all simmer down.’

‘I hae me doots,’ her husband darkly rejoined. ‘Yes, Dulcie. I hae me doots.’

VII

‘How big is the Island?’ Jenny asked, turning on her face to brown her back.

‘Teeny. Not more than fourteen acres, I should think.’

‘Who does it belong to?’

‘To an elderly lady called Mrs Fanny Winterbottom who is the widow of a hairpin king. He changed over to bobby-pins at the right moment and became a millionaire. The Island might be called his Folly.’

‘Pub and all?’

‘Pub and all. My mother,’ Patrick said, ‘has shares in the pub. She took it on when my step-father was axed out of the Army.’

‘It’s Heaven: the Island. Not too pretty. This bay might almost be at home. I’ll be sorry to go.’

‘Do you get homesick, Jenny?’

‘A bit. Sometimes. I miss the mountains and the way people think. All the same, it’s fun trying to get tuned-in. At first, I was all prickles and antipodean prejudice, belly-aching away about living conditions like the Treherns’ cottage and hidebound attitudes and so on. But now – ‘ she squinted up at Patrick. ‘It’s funny,’ she said, ‘but I resent that rotten thing in the paper much more than you do and it’s not only because of Wally. It’s a kind of insult to the Island.’

‘It made me quite cross too, you know.’

‘English understatement. Typical example of.’

He gave her a light smack on the seat.