Louisa had also noticed Marnie’s smile and been surprised. Though she had no particular desire to befriend the young American, she too was intrigued by her – and especially since Giles’s revelations of the night before. Being one of those fortunate individuals who have never suffered agonies of shyness, Louisa didn’t really understand the strange ways it can make sufferers behave, and she still felt a little piqued by what she considered Marnie’s uncalled-for antagonism. She and Catherine and the Grants had enjoyed a happy time over mugs of tea in the kitchen, discussing all the course participants and especially Marnie, who didn’t match their idea of a wealthy heiress. Giles had been unable to recall who it was that had left her the fortune or what the circumstances were, only that it had been unexpected. Louisa determined to discover more about her.

‘Good morning everyone,’ said Catherine when they were all settled. ‘I thought we’d have a general talk about what we mean by creative writing and then I’m going to suggest that you all do an exercise which I think you’ll find interesting – the first of several that we’re going to try over the next few days.’

‘But do we all have to do the same one?’ enquired Bunty mistrustfully.

‘Well, that’s the idea. The point is that though you’ll all start off with the same brief, I can guarantee that what you produce will be entirely different. That’s the excitement of it and the challenge. I hope to encourage you to give yourselves permission to “go with the flow” – your flow, your thoughts, not anyone else’s. I want you to cast aside preconceived ideas of what you ought to write, even what you want to write, and let whatever thoughts and memories come up take wing. I don’t want you to say “I’m going to write a poem this morning” . . . or a children’s story, or a piece of political reasoning. Later you may find you can use what you have written to become part of any of those things. To quote from a book on “freeing the writer within” by an American author called Natalie Goldberg, I want to get you to “write down the bones” of what you are and who you are and the interesting thing is that you will find it much easier to do if you don’t have too much time to think about it.’

One or two people looked wary. The Colonel gazed down at his highly polished shoes and cleared his throat. ‘I’m afraid I’m a feet-on-the-ground sort of chap,’ he said gruffly. ‘I don’t think letting imagination take wing is quite my sort of thing.’

‘Ever tried it?’ asked Catherine.