At Catherine’s request the chairs in the conference room had been set out in a circle. After eyeing each other uncertainly the group seated themselves, with much fiddling of pens, opening of notebooks, shuffling of feet and adjusting of the psychological space around them. Isobel, who usually attended the introductory session to make sure everything went smoothly, always found this a fascinating process and one that had little to do with either the distance between the chairs or the size of the individual. Marnie, for instance, physically the smallest person in the room, looked as though she had circled her chair with an invisible line, daring anyone to invade her boundaries, while the retired schoolmistress looked as though she had spent a lifetime popping in and out of other people’s territory with entirely benevolent intentions but little sense of whether she would be welcome.

‘Room for a little one next to you?’ Isobel heard her asking the Colonel cosily, beads and bangles clanking as she billowed up to him.

‘Ah, um . . . yes of course. Indeed. Delighted,’ he replied, looking alarmed but stoical in the face of danger and leaping politely to his feet. He pulled out the chair she was about to sit on with a gallant flourish, nearly causing her to collapse on the floor.

When everyone was finally settled, Catherine came in with Giles and seated herself in the only vacant chair, smiling warmly at her assembled pupils who eyed her with varying degrees of hope or caution.

‘Well, I’ll leave you all to it,’ said Giles after he had introduced Catherine. ‘Please don’t hesitate to let us know if there’s anything you need. If you press the buzzer on the desk in the hall it will alert one of us that we’re wanted and we’ll come and find you. Breakfast will be from eight to eight forty-five in the dining room. You should each have a timetable in your room but there’s one on the notice board as well. You’ll find the usual assortment of drinks in the bar if you need fortifying after your session. Tea and coffee are always on the house – please help yourselves at any time – but there’s a price list of other drinks on the counter so if you’d just jot down anything else you have in the little book that’s provided, that would be helpful and you can pay at the end of your visit. Have fun and I’ll see you all in the morning. Goodnight.’