Their hostess resumed her seat and the main course arrived, a spiced side of beef, smelling deliciously of cloves and nutmeg, and decorated with holly. ‘Did you like your flowers, Miss Dietrich?’ Barbara Penhaligon asked loudly down the table, and Josephine saw Hilaria glance nervously at Archie.

Marlene gave her a frosty smile. ‘I appreciate everything that Miss St Aubyn has done to make me so comfortable,’ she said innocently. ‘The flowers, the Christmas decorations, this wonderful meal – the day is perfect.’

She picked up her cutlery, as if to put an end to the conversation, but the younger girl refused to be so easily diverted. ‘And the ones from the Führer? I gather he really is your biggest fan.’

Josephine looked at Marta and desperately tried to think of something to say that might defuse the tension, but things had already gone too far. ‘You are just a foolish child,’ Marlene said, her voice low and even, ‘and you have absolutely no idea what those people you call your friends are like.’

‘So you’re happy to betray your country?’ 125

‘I will always be German to my very soul. They are the ones betraying my country.’

‘Miss Dietrich is right,’ Hartley said, making no attempt to disguise the anger in his voice. ‘You’re far too young to understand what’s coming our way, Barbara. If you had lived through the last war as an adult – if you had had to consecrate trenches like I did to keep up with the burials – you wouldn’t be talking such nonsense now.’

‘Gosh, I’d forgotten how divisive good intentions can be,’ Hilaria said, and although the comment was made lightly, there was a note of steel in her voice which was enough to salvage the situation. Marlene apologised and her antagonist seethed in silence.

‘Archie was telling us about some of your myths and legends,’ Josephine said in an effort to get the conversation back on safer ground. ‘He said you found a giant buried in the church?’

Hilaria smiled at her gratefully. ‘Something like that. A hermit’s cell was discovered about fifty years ago. You can see it now if you look behind the family pews, and inside they found a leather jug and a skeleton which was about seven foot tall. We’ve no idea who he was or why he was there, but he’s buried now in the graveyard.’

‘I’ll show you the chamber tomorrow during the carol service,’ Archie promised, ‘and I’m sure Hilaria would be happy for us to look at St Michael’s Chair, too.’

‘What’s St Michael’s Chair?’

Archie grinned. ‘It’s a stone seat on top of the tower, hanging over the edge.’

‘It’s actually a medieval lantern that was used as a guiding light for fishermen,’ Hilaria corrected him, ‘but pilgrims 126used it for prayer, and there is a more recent legend attached to it. Newly married couples have been known to race each other to the top of the tower, because it’s said that whoever sits on the chair first will be the dominant partner in the marriage.’