‘She’s a passive-aggressive,’ Philip used to say. ‘She never comes right out with anything so that you can challenge her. It’s just hints and observations with an accompanying look of contempt if you should feel differently. That drawn-in chin and tight-lipped mouth signifying disapproval. She needs to be in control and she’s perfected a way of doing it. But she’s been a good wife to Max, she’s supported him, and coped with naval life, so who are we to criticize?’

Who indeed? thinks Cara, but she’s anxious about how it will all play out when Judith comes home.

Cara wonders in which, out of all the places she’s seen so far, she could imagine settling down. She knows that it’s sensible to rent to begin with but even that seems a huge step to take at the moment. She wonders what Philip might have advised, knowing that he would have stayed in London. Here, she loves the friendliness of the shopkeepers and hospitality staff; the way a few locals are beginning to recognize her, especially if they see her with Oscar.

‘Just don’t agree to join anything or run anything,’ Max advised her jokily, ‘and you’ll be fine.’

‘No fear of that,’ she said, laughing. ‘I can’t even decide where to live so I wouldn’t be much use to anyone at the moment. Even poor Sam is beginning to despair of me.’

She looks across the table where he and Jack are in deep conversation and feels an odd and surprisingly strong affection for both of them. They share a strong sense of self-containment, of inner strength, yet they can both be very amusing. She feels lucky to have found a momentary berth here in this magical place where she can try to adjust to her grief and fear. The panic attacks have receded just a little but that is due in part to the fact that, because of all these people around this table, she is rarely on her own. She glances across the bar and notices that the man at the window table is still alone. To begin with, seeing him sitting by himself, she was reminded of Cosmo sitting in the Coffee Shop; of how he’d made her think of Joe and the secret she’s kept for so long. Even as she watches him, the man prepares to leave. She wonders if he, too, is on his own in the world, and what he is doing here today. Then Amy claims her attention and she forgets him.