Julian and Nigel are going to be away for a week and Julian has asked her to stay on at least for another six weeks. She wonders why they are going to America. She can’t ask. She has established an iron grip on the arrangements for the memorial service and she has her inventory ready. She’s been given the privilege of joining the directors for lunch and now she makes her way from the smoking room though the drawing room and across the corridor to the dining room, which looks down on the courtyard. In the past lunch was a formal occasion with Harry presiding. Now it’s more relaxed; the food is laid out on the long refectory table and you help yourself, although a wine steward and a waitress are on hand. A young man and a young woman come in. The woman – she knows her name is the Hon. Charlotte Stammers – is only the second woman director the bank has ever had. Estelle has noticed that her picture – long neck, striking Tubal eyes – appears in all the bank’s promotional literature and she is described as ‘highly qualified’ as though this might come as a surprise.

‘Estelle Welz, a legend. I’m Charlotte Stammers, the token female. What an enormous pleasure to meet you.’

‘Thank you, I knew your mother. How is she?’

‘Oh, gardening away. The Vita Sackville-West de nos jours. She’s sixty-six now. I’ll tell her I met you. Estelle – may I? – I believe you were wonderfully kind to Uncle Harry.’

‘Well, I did work for him for over thirty years. I got to know his ways.’

She wants to say to this elegant and slender creature that she loved him and that he loved her. They chat through lunch: she has two young children, Buzz and Flea – they must have proper names – and fortunately a wonderful nanny. She has the engaging quality of appearing to be interested in other people. Most of the family find it hard to believe that someone like Estelle could have a history and a family and some aspirations of her own. Estelle finds herself telling Charlotte about her sister in Queen’s Park, her little house in the grounds of the villa, and her last conversation with Harry. She tells Charlotte that she’s sure the family don’t really believe Harry could speak to her towards the end.

‘Oh no, I am sure he could speak to you. Don’t you think that when you know someone so well you can almost anticipate what they are saying? I do. My father used to say to me that he could tell from the way I said “Hello” just why I was calling him. No, I am sure you knew exactly what Harry was saying and thinking. Doctors are far too ready to ignore those parts of the brain and the intelligence they can’t see on a screen, don’t you think?’