Isidore Solomons had been seated behind the desk. He stood to greet everyone and made sure that each had whatever refreshments they required. Wangari took her seat beside Izzy’s. The waiter was dismissed and the business of the day began.

‘I’d like to start by thanking Wangari Ndiri for her contribution to this project,’ Izzy said. ‘Without her knowledge of Kenyan law and her tireless work liaising with Kenyan government departments, including the president’s office, we would not be here today.’

Saffron led a round of enthusiastic applause. Benjamin beamed proudly and Wangari gave a modest smile in acknowledgement of the praise.

‘You have each been given a copy of the documents that President Kenyatta will sign tomorrow, and that you, Saffron, will countersign, on behalf of the Leon Courtney Foundation. Can I confirm, Mr Makori, that the president has read the documents and he is happy with the final draft?’

‘Yes, that is the case,’ Maku said.

‘Then I will go through the salient points, which are listed on the cover page at the front of your folders. The first is that Saffron Courtney Meerbach, being the sole inheritor of her father Leon Courtney’s estate, has donated the entire Lusima Estate, save for her private home Cresta Lodge and approximately two thousand acres surrounding it, to the independent nation of Kenya, for the benefit of its people and wildlife.

‘The land retained by you, Saffron, amounts to less than two per cent of the total area of Lusima. I have to say this is a truly astonishing act of philanthropy and I trust –’ Izzy gave Maku a piercing stare – ‘that the president will reflect that in his speech tomorrow.’

‘You can be sure of that, Mr Solomons. The president is deeply moved by this act of generosity and reconciliation. It confirms the high view he has always held of Mrs Courtney Meerbach and her family.’

‘That is very gracious of him,’ said Izzy. ‘Now, the land is being given under certain conditions. The first is that all the farmlands are to be passed on by the Kenyan government to the Kikuyu people who worked them on Mr Courtney’s behalf. A further tranche of, as yet, unfarmed land is to be set aside for the use of the next generation. In this way, young Kikuyu men will be able to acquire land of their own and thereby be ready to marry and start a family, as is their custom.’

‘May I say, Saffron, how deeply moved I am by this,’ Wangari added. ‘If other Europeans had been equally generous, we might never have had that terrible uprising and both our fathers might be alive to see this day.’

‘Thank you,’ Saffron said. ‘I want more than anything to help make this a peaceful country, for everyone.’

Izzy continued. ‘The second condition is that a game reserve is to be established on the remaining land, which occupies a little over three quarters of the total donation. This reserve, and the hotel in which we are now sitting, is to be managed for the next fifty years by the Leon Courtney Foundation.