‘Aunt Mary’s great at giving people new wrinkles,’ Ben said. ‘The situation doesn’t really amuse Mother.’

‘I’ll bet it doesn’t!’ David said.

‘We finished the fence,’ Ben said.

Diana glanced at Constance, but she wasn’t following the conversation. She was looking out at the landscape as they drove towards the city.

‘Are those our mountains?’ Constance asked.

‘They are,’ Diana said, relieved to know that they hadn’t deprived Constance of the few landmarks that remained for her by taking her away from them for two weeks; she did, in general, know where she was.

‘We went a bit further than we should have, maybe,’ Ben said.

‘How is that?’ David asked.

‘We put a new door off the breakfast room, one that won’t have to be locked. We thought Constance would like to be able to get out into the garden.’

‘What a wonderful idea!’ Diana said. ‘I’d never have thought of it.’

‘We felt bad, not checking it out first, but it seemed like such a good idea, and we had the time; so we just did it. It doesn’t look too bad really.’

The cedar fence had a raw new look, but at least it didn’t look like a cage. Constance didn’t take any notice of it. She went into the house and looked about her curiously.

‘This is home, is it?’ she asked Diana.

‘Yes, look, let me show you,’ Diana said, taking Constance by the arm and leading her through the house, reintroducing her to familiar objects, places she was used to sitting, and gradually Constance’s face began to clear.

Only after the tour did Diana go to have a look at the new door which, unlike the fence, looked as if it had always been there.

‘Look at this,’ she said to Constance. ‘This is new. It’s your own door. It won’t be locked. You can go out into the garden any time you like.’

‘I always do,’ Constance said, ‘but it’s very nice. Thank you.’

‘What do you think?’ Ben asked, coming up behind them.

‘It’s wonderful,’ Diana said.

‘It was really Mike’s idea. I wasn’t going to say unless you really liked it.’

‘Shall we try it?’ Diana suggested.

It was dusk. The air was damp and cold, and Diana was very grateful for the firm rail in place on the new steps down into the garden. It did look to her very different, enclosed by the new fence, but Constance hardly noticed it, her eyes on the ground where she found hundreds of bulbs pushing up through the earth and where the tiny buds of snowdrops glowed white in the last light.

‘Mother’s sent over a casserole for your dinner,’ Ben said. ‘It’s in the oven. There’s enough for Grandad, too, but everyone hopes he’ll come home with me to dinner.’