Eric was looking angrily from one to the other.

‘There should be a minimum wage,’ continued Stephen. ‘How can we possibly advance, as a society, while the majority of the population lives in abject poverty?’ He turned his gaze onto the men around the table. From the expressions on Eric and Bob Michael’s faces, he could see that his words held the power of an incendiary speech.

‘The system may be imperfect, but it keeps this country running,’ said Bob, smiling through gritted teeth.

‘And anyway, the natives aren’t like us,’ Jill interjected, archly. ‘It says in the Bible that they’re the hewers of stone and the drawers of water – they’re not as highly developed as we are. They don’t have the same expectations.’

‘On the contrary,’ said Guthrie, ‘our hopes and fears are exactly the same.’ Eric gave a derisive snort, but Guthrie ignored him and carried on. ‘We all want stability and dignity and good health for ourselves and our children. We’re all equally afraid of losing our livelihoods, being unloved and dying.’

Eric’s jaw clenched; he opened his mouth to speak, but Ginie cut him off. ‘Well said, Guthrie. They’re people, just like us. They want the same opportunities to work to provide healthy and prosperous lives for their families.’

‘Goodness, I didn’t realise you were such a liberal,’ said Anne, giving Ginie a hard look masquerading as surprise. Her cigarette rested on her lower lip while smoke drifted over her face.

Ginie pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘Ladies, I think it’s time for us to move to the parlour for coffee.’

The men stayed on in the dining room, drinking port, smoking cigars and carefully avoiding the race issue. They stuck to safe topics: crops, livestock, and weather. When they joined the women, tempers had calmed and Mark presented a slide show of his recent trip to the Bua River in Nyasaland, which he visited in search of the succulent plants he was studying.

‘We camped among the trees with Puku and Waterbuck grazing nearby, taking no notice of us at all. . . The next evening, we were treated to beer and tribal dancing at a nearby village. The party lasted all night, with tremendous drumming, singing, and ululating.’ They looked in awe at the scenery, the wildflowers, the animals, the birds, the rock art and the local people he had encountered. While Mark talked in his quiet and measured voice, Stephen marvelled at the double standards of his guests, who were so eager to saturate themselves in every pleasure the country had to offer, but treated its people so poorly.