Looking stunned, Rosie tried to take in the information. ‘Lord Stow took us seriously,’ she gasped incredulously.

‘He must have done,’ incredulous too, Sybil agreed. ‘He must have had a word with Veronica fairly quickly after seeing us; after all, it’s not that long ago.’

‘I bet she would have been tight-lipped to start with,’ Rosie said knowingly.

‘His lordship must have winkled the truth out of her; otherwise we wouldn’t be reading this article,’ Sybil realistically pointed out. ‘I wonder if he paid the bastard off or just sent him packing with his tail between his legs?’

Still unable to absorb the news and the enormous victory they had achieved, Rosie gave a loud jubilant laugh. ‘We did it, against all the odds,’ she exclaimed.

Sybil joined in the happy laughter. ‘YEAH! We did it, Rosie!’

Their picnic that afternoon on Grange Beach was one of the happiest days of Rosie’s life. She certainly didn’t swim, but she did paddle in the shallows, where she stood watching her laughing children play tag in the deeper water further out. Chasing Sybil, who was wearing a clinging red swimsuit, Ronnie and Sally dived under the waves in order to catch her out, but she was a strong swimmer and dodged most of their advances. Afterwards, lying on the warm sand eating meat-paste-and-cucumber sandwiches and oatmeal gingerbread washed down with a flask of strong tea, they listened to the tide shushing against the pebbles as it softly slipped away from the shore.

‘Can we swim again, Auntie Sybil?’ Sally asked, as she tickled Sybil’s tummy, which was pleasingly returning to its former shape.

‘Yes, but first I must digest my food,’ Sybil answered sleepily. ‘Go and build a sandcastle with a deep moat and I promise I’ll come and decorate it with shells as soon as it’s finished.’

‘Yeah!’ exuberant Ronnie cried. ‘Let’s build two castles, Sal, and a connecting drawbridge.’

Listening to the children’s happy chatter, Sybil turned to Rosie. ‘I told them I’m leaving this week,’ she said with a lump in her throat.

Rosie struggled to sit up before she answered, ‘I know.’

Sitting up too, Sybil watched the redshanks and other waders pecking for worms at the water’s edge.

‘They’re upset,’ Rosie continued, ‘but they knew this was coming, just like they know that I’ll have to leave here soon too. Anyway,’ she added cheerfully, ‘look on the bright side: a fancy new job – don’t tell me you’re not looking forward to that?’

‘I’m really looking forward to it,’ Sybil assured her. ‘God knows what I would have done if I’d been turned down for the training.’

Impressed, Rosie murmured, ‘I’d never even heard the word “radar” until you mentioned it.’

‘Please, God, it will help to speed up an end to this wretched war,’ Sybil said earnestly.