Max turned away from Edie. There was a sense of sadness in the way he moved through the sitting room. He came out onto the terrace and crossed over to Eleanor. I imagined his soothing voice, comforting her, reassuring her he was there for her as he’d reassured me. She looked up at him and I imagined her saying sorry, promising to clean up her act, stop drinking, be the mother and wife they both needed. I had to stop myself shrieking down to warn him not to believe her. She was lying and didn’t deserve his kindness. It was her who was the bitch, the slut, the whore, who’d left my brother in a pool of his own blood.

Edie walked out of the house and joined them. She faced her mother. I concentrated hard on her lips as they moved.

‘What are you saying?’ I whispered under my breath.

Edie’s face was twisted and ugly. Her hard, narrowed eyes brimmed with contemptuous tears. She shook her head disdainfully, pointed a finger, jabbed the air near her mother in accusation. Then she shouted, gesticulated wildly and kicked a chair over. Her mother winced. Edie turned on her heel and stormed back into the house. I followed her up the stairs. Lost her as she reached the landing and moved out of sight. I shifted the binoculars over to her bedroom window. She marched in and began roughly shoving things into a bag, sobbing as she did so. She stopped suddenly as if someone had interrupted her. I waited for either Max or Eleanor to enter the room. But they didn’t.

Edie slowly lowered her bag. Looked up. Out of the window.

Straight at me.

My heart thumped. Then, as I watched, Edie raised her hand. Something stopped me throwing myself to the ground. Perhaps it was the look on her face, a mix of sadness and regret but with a calm air of acceptance. Instead of hiding, I raised my own hand. Edie gave a thin half-smile before hefting her bag onto her shoulder and walking out of her room. At the bottom of the stairs I expected to see her turning towards the terrace, but she turned the opposite way, towards the front door. It opened and closed in a flash of evening light and she was gone.

Eleanor and Max were still on the terrace, standing, facing each other. She moved towards him and tried to put her arms around him. He pushed her away and shook his head. When she tried again, he turned his back on her and walked into the house, went into his study and closed the door behind him.