‘Hello, Toni,’ said Irene to his wife. ‘We’re so pleased you could all be here. I think Jem is still in bed.’

‘Look at you!’ said Toni. ‘What a nice sister you are, I must say. Isn’t she a nice sister, honey? Slaving away while everyone else sleeps. Can’t I do that for you? We’re here to help in any way we can. Aren’t we, Duncan, sweetie?’

She actually held out her hand, bangles clinking on her arm, for the brush. Irene looked doubtfully at Toni’s elegant dress, and turned her attention to the two girls.

‘You must be Coralie,’ she said to the older one. ‘And you’re Emma.’

They nodded in unison, still stranded mutely in the doorway. They both had white socks and blue sandals, miniature v-shaped skirts. Coralie was plump and Emma skinny, with sharp knees and a wader bird’s craning neck.

‘Say hello,’ prompted Toni.

‘Hello,’ they piped.

‘Tell you what,’ said Irene. ‘I’m about to make coffee and put breakfast stuff out for people to help themselves to. Why don’t you two go into the garden and we’ll join you there. Introduce yourselves to Juliet’s friends. There’s another little girl,’ she said to Emma and Coralie. ‘But she’s a bit younger than you.’

They didn’t move.

‘Go on,’ said her father. ‘We’re just coming. Shoo.’

Emma’s lower lip began to wobble. Coralie took her hand and tugged her across the kitchen and out through the opened doors.

‘Oh look at them,’ said Toni, exasperated at the way they wavered on the patio, staring out at the scene in the garden. ‘How come they’re so shy? Where do they get it from? Not from me.’

‘I’ll introduce them,’ said Irene. ‘Hang on.’

She put the brush into the bucket, wiped her hands down her shorts, and went into the garden. She took both girls by their hands and went across to Lorrie and Katherine. They had sweaty fingers which gripped hers fiercely. She saw how their shoes were old and scuffed and how Emma’s skirt had an unravelled hem and Coralie’s neck was grimy. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, she thought – I’m feeling sorry for them.

‘Hi,’ she said to Lorrie. ‘Have you been up for ages?’

‘Bloody hours. We even took a walk into the village so we didn’t disturb the whole household. We didn’t wake you, did we?’

‘No. Anyway, I wanted to get up early. Here, we’ve got some new guests who want to meet Katherine. This is Coralie, and this is Emma, just arrived from America and probably completely jet-lagged and bewildered. They’re my father’s daughters,’ she added. ‘He’s in the kitchen.’