Mr Brown had opened an eye at her for a brief moment but then gone back to sleep. ‘You look after yourself,’ she said. ‘Don’t you go and die or anything while I’m gone. I shall be back soon and I couldn’t cope without you,’ but Mr Brown spent much of his day snoozing and it was hard to tell how much he took in.

Louisa stopped for an early lunch at the first service station after she had turned onto the M6. She had been driving for two hours, which, for her, was usually the right time to have a break. Normally a conscientiously healthy eater, she eschewed the salad selection in favour of a plate of chips with bacon and eggs, and a leaden-textured chocolate muffin, and this cholesterol-rich meal added to her sense of freedom and escape. She carried her tray to a table by the window and thought about the week ahead.

She intended to try her hand at several creative possibilities before deciding what direction to follow in a new life and had been poring over brochures of various courses. The writing course had particularly appealed because she already knew Giles and Isobel Grant. The week sounded interesting; she thought it would probably serve as well as anything to set her on a new tack and she was much looking forward to going to Glendrochatt again. The last time she’d visited the Grants, they had just made the big decision to use their house as an arts centre and the whole place had been in chaos, crawling with builders, plumbers and electricians. Everyone had been buzzing with excitement, tossing out new ideas and arguing over plans. Now it was a running concern and she was looking forward to seeing what changes had been made. She had always liked the Grants and thought that if they’d managed to transfer to their business venture the relaxed, happy-go-lucky atmosphere that Isobel had created when the house was purely a family home, and then combined it with the exhilaration and enthusiasm generated by her more mercurial husband, it boded well for the week ahead.

She looked at her watch and reckoned that she had about another two and a half hours’ more driving ahead. She hoped she might arrive before the other participants so that she could have a chance to see Isobel on her own first.

In fact she made such good time that she reached Glendrochatt soon after four, though as she sped along the A9 between Dunkeld and Pitlochry she was so deep in her own thoughts about the future that she nearly missed the turning to Blairalder, causing the car behind her to brake violently as she suddenly swerved off the dual carriage-way without any warning.