At two hundred feet the Hampshire countryside opened out beneath them. On this clear, still day there was a crispness and clarity about its features that lifted the spirits. He’d lived here for twenty-five years now, and having flown over the landscape countless times he’d come to know each field and copse, each river and hedgerow almost as though it were his own garden.

The tributaries of the River Test glittered in the early morning sunlight like silver ribbons. Fresh green fields of youthful wheat were spread like emerald velvet between the hedgerows that were about to burst into leaf, and everywhere there were great sprawling cushions of purple-grey woodland.

He could tell at a glance which county was beneath him. Hampshire was predominantly wooded, Wiltshire a tapestry of prairie farming, and Surrey a more heavily populated county where houses spattered the landscape in an untidy rash.

It was Surrey they were flying over now. The businessman had settled down to enjoy the view and, apart from keeping in contact with air traffic control, Tiger said little, happy to start the day quietly. Sometimes, in his imagination, the aircraft slipped away from him and he was flying, dreamlike, under his own bodily power. He could go where he wanted, into any world he chose. Sometimes.

It took just forty minutes to get to City Airport, and having put down neatly on the Tarmac, Tiger escorted his passenger to the small departure lounge and said good-bye. Today was a rarity. A neat dovetailing. Instead of flying back empty he was to return with another passenger. A woman.

Glancing around the sparsely populated lounge he spotted only three likely candidates. A city type with a large attaché case, a power-dressed businesswoman with dark hair tied back in a pony tail, and Kate Devon.

‘Hello, Tiger.’ She looked at him apologetically.

‘Kate! What are you doing here?’

‘Waiting for you, I suppose. Waiting for a helicopter anyway, so I suppose that must be you.’

‘Yes. But where are you expecting to go?’

‘Southampton Airport. There’s a car there waiting to take me on.’

‘Well, I’m your man then.’ Tiger picked up her smart Mulberry holdall and gestured towards the door. ‘How are you?’

‘Oh, you know. Battling on.’

Her lack of enthusiasm surprised him. Her customary fizz was absent. She seemed weary. There were assorted mumbled pleasantries as they walked across the Tarmac, a nod in the direction of the weather, and eventually Tiger asked, ‘How long has it been now?’

‘Eighteen months.’

‘As long as that?’

Kate nodded.

‘And how are…things?’

‘OK. Good days and bad days. Up and down. It’s never easy is it? After such a long time. But I made my bed and now…’ She shrugged.

‘Oh dear.’

‘No. Not really oh dear.’

‘No regrets then?’