Sam moves back a little as the lunch arrives and plates are passed around the table. He realizes that the decision to follow in Mole’s footsteps is a way of connecting with this father he never knew, making the relationship more of a reality. Way back, when he first arrived at The Keep, he was given Mole’s bedroom, which still held the reminders of his father’s childhood – including a whole shelf of Tintin books – and showed his father’s passion for the navy and especially for submarines. As a small boy, Sam was fascinated by the books and the photographs, and especially by the iconic, big, black-and-white photograph of his father on the bridge of a nuclear submarine as it sailed into Faslane, which was framed and mounted and hung in the hall. Neither Fliss nor Hal has particularly encouraged Sam to join the service – none of their own children has – yet it slowly morphed into an accepted way of thinking and, after all, nothing else particularly fired Sam up whilst he was at school. He was good at languages, good at sport and sufficiently adequate academically to get into Durham University to read languages …

He is aware that Jack is watching him.

‘I know you’re only a half-wit,’ he says pleasantly, ‘but which part of “Pass the salt” don’t you understand?’

Sam laughs, apologizes, picks up his knife and fork and concentrates on the people around him.

Jack thinks about Sam as he eats his pie of the day – steak and ale – and he wonders what the boy has on his mind. He can see that there’s something that’s preoccupying him. Of course, it might be a girl, but some instinct tells him that it isn’t that. Sam’s too detached, too contained; too ready to come to stay with Max and offer his services indefinitely as chauffeur to Cara. Jack notices that Sam doesn’t consult his phone, checking for messages or sending texts, nor does he talk about his friends. This preoccupation of his is at a different level and it’s clear that Sam intends to keep it to himself. The only clue is how he deftly bats away any conversation about the navy except at the most superficial level. He clearly doesn’t want to engage in a discussion about his future.

Jack sits back and sips his pint. It’s odd that a young man about to embark on a new and exciting career shouldn’t want to talk about it.