Pip smiled to herself and let out a little huff of laughter. What on earth was she doing, wasting all this time thinking about a complete stranger? It was madness, even bordering on obsession. Ever since she had found the diary, its contents and Evelyn herself had occupied Pip’s mind almost constantly. It wasn’t normal, she knew, but then again not much had been normal since the accident. It probably wasn’t healthy, either. She knew what she was doing, focusing on the diary so she could avoid thinking about Dominic, although each time she did allow thoughts of him to creep into her mind she felt a little less sad. The longer she was at home, the further she felt from Rose. She was fading in her memory, like the scent of her namesake flowers kept overlong in a vase. Dominic had loved Rose – or at least the idea of her; Pip wasn’t sure which. But when Rose had started to wither, so had Dominic’s interest in her, and he had shown no interest at all in Pip. Pip was beginning to think that spoke volumes. Didn’t these things generally work out for the best? Maybe that was the case here. When she got back to London, she would see Dominic almost every day at work, but that thought didn’t worry her at all. That must mean something, surely?

For the first time, a new idea appeared in her head: cautious, like a snail stretching out its horns as it checked for signs of danger. Maybe she could start looking for a new flat. After all, she couldn’t spend the rest of her life hiding out up here in the sticks. She was going to have to get back to work sooner or later, and she would have to live somewhere. She could simply transport her things from one place to another, rather than bring everything to the farm. There was something very final about bringing her possessions back to Suffolk. It would feel like a failure to her, and she was certain there were others in the town who would think the same. She would be the girl who flew too close to the sun, and everyone knew what happened to her. A new flat would avoid all that, she thought.