The storm which first hit Cornwall on the day and night of September third was as strong as the hurricane which devastated the south of England in October 1987, but less was heard of it on radio and television. This might have been because it only touched the west coast of the peninsula and no big centres of population were affected. What interest could most of the country have in a few remote cottages swept away by freak high tides, caravan sites flattened, boats smashed into pieces? Besides, by the time reporters realised the extent of the damage the storm was causing, it was too late to get a film crew there in daylight, and by the next morning the rail link had been broken, and most roads were blocked by fallen trees.

The gale began slowly on the night of September second, the evening of Molly and George’s return from Bristol to Myrtle Cottage. The wind was strong enough by then to make a noise in the trees around the house and to excite the birdwatchers staying there, but it was not unusual. There were strong westerlies every September at neap tide. By the next morning the wind was as strong as anyone could remember, and even at the head of the valley it tasted of salt, with spray blown up from the beach. The storm reached its peak at midafternoon of the third at high tide, and then the noise of water and wind was terrifying, and though the seawatching was so magnificent that the birders continued to stagger out to Porthkennan Point, it was a major expedition to walk the few hundred yards to reach there.

When Molly and George were dropped at Myrtle Cottage by Claire Bingham, the others were sitting much as they had been the night before. Walking through the door, the Palmer-Joneses saw exactly the same scene as Berry had seen when he arrived to collect Jane Pym. Molly thought it was possible to believe that no one had moved all day. They had eaten a meal, and there was the same clutter as before—scraps of French bread, the sad remnants of a salad, empty wine bottles.

The only difference was that Louis Rosco was there, too. That surprised George—he had expected him to be still in custody—but it would make things easier. The relationship between Rosco and Rose seemed to have changed. Rose had taken public possession of him, and the new show of friendship had caused a tension in the room. Gerald Matthews obviously hated it and was making himself unpleasant, criticizing everything, trying to provoke argument. At first glance nothing else seemed to have changed. Rob Earl and Roger and Jane Pym sat in their accustomed places, drinking heavily. Duncan James shrank into his seat, quiet, self-effacing, almost forgotten.