He nodded and greeted the girl – ‘Viola’ – then turned to me, smiling oddly. ‘Miss Cedars,’ he said pointedly. His unctuous smarm had returned and perhaps it was a blessing; soft, attentive Saul, the one who called out, ‘Leah! Leah!’ in a plaintive voice, was so much harder to handle.

I stared him down. He was not to say anything compromising in front of this girl, one whose word had a direct route back to the students of St Rita’s.

‘Where are you two ladies off to?’ he asked.

‘Viola and I are attending this evening’s Council meeting,’ I said. I put my arm around the girl and felt her, quite rightly, flinch at this gesture, at my drawing up of sides.

‘Oh, are you!’ He began to laugh.

‘I am,’ I said, stone cold. ‘Just like you.’

I could feel Viola’s eyes travelling from Saul to me, and back again. I wanted to pull from her mind, like a length of magician’s scarves, all the conclusions she was leaping to. I let my arm drop from her shoulders.

‘I don’t go anymore,’ he said airily. ‘Neither does Bob Signal, nor the Reverend.’

‘What?’ This was news to me – and I supposed to most people on the island as well. ‘But you’re on the Council, so… Why not?’

His affected lightness dissolved. He sighed heavily and looked at his feet.

‘Oh, I dunno, it became… Let’s just say, there didn’t seem to be much point.’

‘“Not much point”?’ I repeated. I was aghast. ‘“Not much point”!’ My father’s words were there, ready to direct him. Remove the beam from your eye, Saul! But the beam wasn’t there, I could see that; it was long gone. He knew decay had set in, but had chosen the path of least resistance; he had decided to look away.

‘Well, I will be attending.’ I despised myself for the childish pride in my voice, diminishing what I was about to do. ‘I shall be sitting in my father’s place.’

‘You know they won’t let you do that. His place will be open to Paul only and –’

‘Do you see Paul anywhere?’ I glanced at Viola, to see if she had been alerted to my earlier lie about not having a brother.

Saul raised his palms in surrender. ‘Come on, Leah, you know it won’t be me making that decision.’

I bristled at his use of my first name.

‘Then why are you not making it your decision?’ I demanded. ‘Why are you not banging on the door of the Big House, you and Robert Signal and Father Daniel, and forming your own Council?’ He hung his head again. ‘The Earl is the leader of this island, not that lot in there. You should be returning him to power, overthrowing this rot.’

‘Look, Leah,’ he said, weary of speech, ‘don’t you think that we –’