‘It’s all very distressing,’ said Cordelia. ‘She’ll probably hate the place even more if something goes wrong.’

Peggy nodded. ‘And I wouldn’t blame her, Cordy.’ She set the sad little letter aside and lit a cigarette. ‘I so wish she’d found the same happiness as Rita, for I know she loves Mike and was utterly determined to make a success of things out there after her disastrous marriage to Raymond.’

‘Well, there’s nothing either of us can do about it, unfortunately,’ said Cordelia. ‘As my mother would have said, “She’s made her bed, and now she must lie in it.”’ She grimaced as Daisy’s weight shifted on her arthritic knees. ‘Can you take her, dear? Only she’s heavy on my legs.’

Peggy lifted Daisy from Cordelia’s lap and kissed her forehead in the hope she’d wake. Too much sleep at this time of the day usually brought on grizzling moodiness, and with Bob due to arrive within the hour she didn’t want the distraction.

However, Daisy stirred and woke in a good mood, and once she’d had a cup of her orange juice and a digestive biscuit, she played happily at the table with her soft toys while Peggy quickly scanned Jim’s letter in case it contained anything which might upset Cordelia.

Darling Peggy,

A great deal has happened since I last wrote to you – a lot of it very sad – but some very pleasant and quite surprising. Jeremy turned up in Singapore and we drove Sybil and the others up to the rubber plantation for Philip’s burial and to place a memorial stone for Jock. I don’t know if either girl has written to tell you, but both men had been slave labour on the notorious Burma railway, and it’s not known when Jock died, but a witness I spoke to helped bury him and left a marker.

Philip survived less than a few hours after arriving at the hospital in Singapore and Sarah was with him at the end. He never came round enough to recognise her, and from what I heard from Sybil and Jane, his death was a merciful end to his terrible suffering. Poor Sarah didn’t know how to feel, but I think she mourned the memory of the man she’d once loved, rather than the stranger who’d returned. Coming so soon after losing Jock, it was a very difficult time for them all.

It was almost a month after Philip’s death when we made that sad and rather poignant journey to the rubber plantation in Malaya. The house was still standing, but for Sybil and her girls it was too full of memories, so they didn’t stay long. On our return to Singapore Sarah discovered that Delaney had come looking for her, and to cut a very long story short, Jumbo and I are to be the best men at the double wedding.

‘Oh, my goodness,’ Peggy squeaked, startling Cordelia. ‘Delaney and Jeremy went to Singapore, and there’s to be a double wedding.’