‘You said something yesterday about the parish records being damaged,’ frowned Thea. ‘Is that right?’

Richard nodded, but again hesitated before elaborating. ‘All a bit of a mystery, that is. No obvious reason for it – quite a lot of the paper’s just fallen to pieces, so it’s just a scatter of illegible scraps. The vicar says it must have been beetles or weevils. Some sort of insect.’

‘That’s terrible,’ said Thea, who had a feeling for old archives and primary historical sources. ‘There’s no substitute for the original records.’

‘Well, we’re hoping we can reconstruct most of them,’ said Richard. ‘It’s become quite a major project amongst several of the local people. We’ve got them coming up from the Ampneys as well – there are several connections, of course. We had a great-uncle who was churchwarden of Ampney Crucis at one point.’

His brother showed little sign of concern for the lost documents. He was scanning the fields that lay behind them, as if searching for a missing dog or child. ‘Sun’s coming out, look,’ he said, apparently forgetting that Thea had said the same thing ten minutes earlier.

It was an effective interruption. ‘Yes, yes. Must get on,’ said Richard Jackson.

They were both retired, Thea presumed. One spent his time delving into family history and the other apparently did not. ‘I’m sorry to ask, but it’s going to nag at me all day otherwise,’ she burst out. ‘The thing is, I wondered if you might be twins?’ It had come to her 170attention long ago that making a direct enquiry such as this was considered impolite by society in general, for reasons that were obscure to her. It was the obvious way to acquire information, after all.

‘Oh no,’ said Richard. ‘He’s three years older than I am. Are you suggesting that I look as ancient as he does? If so, I think I should feel insulted.’

She was unsure as to whether this was meant as a joke, but a glance at his face suggested something heartfelt just below the surface. ‘Sorry,’ she smiled. ‘I’m hopeless at guessing people’s ages.’ This was not strictly true, but she hoped it would appease him.

He returned the smile, as if it was of no importance at all. They had been conversing close to the wall between the churchyard and the field, but now Richard made a move towards the road, forcing Thea to move aside. Within a few seconds, both men were walking away, leaving Thea to go when and where she pleased. ‘I expect I’ll see you again,’ she said.

‘I don’t suppose you will,’ said Richard. ‘We’re going to be fully occupied until the end of the month with visitors.’

Edward gave her a softer response. ‘Nephew and nieces, mostly. There’s been a tradition for decades now that they all descend on their old uncles for their summer holidays.’

‘Actually not uncles but cousins, to be strictly accurate,’ said Dick.

‘How nice,’ said Thea fatuously.

171She was back at the house before eleven, finding the builders sitting in their van with mugs of coffee. ‘Waiting for the plumber,’ explained Dave. ‘He’s late.’