‘She was difficult to get on with in the end,’ said Harry, thinking back to how, in the last couple of months of her life, they had practically been living separate lives and he’d been planning for a new life ahead as a divorcee. He hadn’t spoken about this with anyone, not even his brothers, and after her death it had seemed pointless. It was only heaping more misery on everyone, especially her mother, Sonia. He wondered now if Elizabeth had confided in anyone. No one had spoken to him about it, no one had mentioned it or even hinted at it. He didn’t know if, like him, they felt it was irrelevant after her death.

‘She was making life difficult for all of you,’ said Wendy. ‘Her death was very convenient.’

Harry shot her a look. Convenient? That was one cold-hearted way of describing it. He concentrated on the path ahead as they reached the descent towards the lake.

The buggy trundled down the hill, swaying and dipping as it covered the uneven ground. Within a few minutes they were at the side of the lake.

Harry scanned the shoreline, and there, sprawled out on the muddy water’s edge, was a figure. He brought the buggy to a halt, stalling the engine, and jumped off, running across the stones. He threw himself down on the ground beside the limp body. It was his mother. She was wearing a full wetsuit. Beside her was a dry bag.

‘Mum! Mum!’ shouted Harry, turning her over onto her back. He pressed his ear to her face. He could feel her breath on his skin. It was faint, but it was there. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialled for an ambulance, before taking off his jacket and covering his mother with it. He stood up and looked out across the lake.

There were three rowing boats in the centre of the lake that shouldn’t have been there. One was slightly more adrift than the others. He squinted some more. There was a dark shape floating by the boat. Fear gripped his throat.

‘Ambulance service. Is the patient breathing?’ came the response of the emergency-call handler.

Harry forced himself to answer. ‘Yes. She’s collapsed though. She’s been in the water. Swimming. I’ve found her by the edge of the lake. It’s my mother, she’s sixty-eight.’

He waved his arm frantically to Wendy, pointing out across the lake. He was torn between answering the operator’s questions and diving into the water himself. Wendy, however, had no hesitation. She was battling against the water, wading towards the nearest rowing boat.

Harry looked at his mother and back at Wendy and then out at the body in the lake. His indecision was relieved as a car came speeding up along the track and skidded to a halt. Dominic jumped out and started running towards them. Harry threw the phone at his brother.