He dozes uneasily, in the shallows of sleep. When he is disturbed, he dreams of riding his pony. At prep school he wrote anguished, weekly letters to his mother, asking about the pony’s welfare. The pony’s happiness, he now understands, was the only way he could express his emotional despair. Mummy was far too brusque to notice. Perhaps she was already suffering at his father’s wandering hands. The pony’s name was Coppélia, the result of his parents’ love of the ballet. His friends’ ponies were called Nobby and Flash and Blaze and Socks. In his mind as he sleeps he is still drawing pictures of ponies in the margins of his exercise books. He believes he can speak to horses. Horse conversation is not profound or commercially-minded, but calmly and reassuringly banal. The only thing that gets ponies going is the rumour that French people eat horses. His pony friends tell him that it is a disgrace. Even now in his sleep he feels outraged. He wrote a school essay called ‘The Disgraceful Practice of Eating Horse Meat in France’, which earned him a gold star from Miss Robinson, his English teacher, and the eternal enmity of Madame Le Nôtre, his French teacher. Madame Le Nôtre was an enthusiastic carnivore and also – she said – the direct descendant of the gardener. He wondered why you would be proud to be descended from a gardener. At Haylings they had seven, men whose skin was permanently weathered. It was much like the colour of his father’s military-tan shoes. Estelle has a source of supply for Kiwi Military Tan Polish, still popular down under.

When he was at prep school the boys had to demonstrate that they could swim by making a crossing of the Cherwell in their pyjamas and dressing gowns after weeks of practice in the swimming pool. Health and Safety have stopped that. In his dream he remembers R.O. Venables sinking and being pulled out by Mr Applethwaite, housemaster of Jellicoe, who dived in wearing his baggy tracksuit and old cricket sweater. In his dream he is now riding his pony across the school meadows and into the river to save Venables. The pony tells him, gravely, to sit back in case she stumbles.

He wakes as the plane shudders briefly before landing smoothly in Altenrhein. The car is pulled up on the tarmac to the side of the runway. He thanks Kevin and James, who have put on caps and jackets to see him off. They will stay overnight near Flughafen Altenrhein.