A fortnight before the Queen Mother was due to arrive, the Courtaulds went on holiday to Nyasaland, staying in a simple, comfortable bungalow on Lake Nyasa, which had eight acres of land and a pleasant, rough garden on sandy soil. They liked it so much that they put in a bid for the property, with the intention of using it as a regular holiday home. Lake Nyasa was one of the most beautiful freshwater lakes in Africa, with warm, clear water, and sheltered, sandy beaches interspersed with rocky headlands. There was nothing to do but boating and bathing, with very few people around and no telephone. They spent their time lying on the beach, watching eagles and all kinds of other birds, as well as seals and otters playing among the rocks opposite. Sometimes, they climbed into the old rowing boat that belonged to the house and paddled around the corner to the next bay, looking at the shoals of multi-coloured fish in the crystal waters.

The anguish of loss never left Ginie. Pain had settled in and fused with her DNA. Perhaps there were some things one never got over; that was simply the way life was. She held the knighthood close to herself as a secret store of happiness, and perhaps, it was all the more sweet for the pain.

40 The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s

40

The Courtaulds, Rhodesia, 1950s

Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia, was a pretty, insulated town in the north-east of the country, about one hundred and thirty miles from La Rochelle. The slow-moving streets were wide – Cecil Rhodes had ordered that they must be of sufficient width to turn a span of oxen in – and lined with trees. The houses were spacious, rambling bungalows with verandas on all sides, set in lush, well-tended gardens.

Stephen and Ginie were driving to the airport to meet the Queen Mother’s plane. Ginie’s hands felt shaky and her stomach was knotted with nerves. She stared out of the window, trying to distract herself. Crowds were already lining the route: schoolchildren, hospital patients – even prisoners from the jail were turning out to form the welcome party.

Although her visit was informal, when the Courtaulds reached the airport, the acting Governor General, Sir Robert Tredgold, was waiting to welcome her. Stephen liked Robert immensely. He was a thoughtful man with a dry sense of humour, who had confessed to the Courtaulds his doubts about some of the views that were accepted by all political parties. He was particularly concerned about racial segregation, which he thought was wrong and would easily prove to be disastrous.

‘The concept is so much part of the white man’s thinking,’ he had told them, ‘that there’s no prospect whatsoever of changing it, except in the very long term.’ He was in a difficult position because the Prime Minister had asked him not to voice his disquiet.