“What else would I do for an old friend?” Rose said. “We’ll have some good chats about old times, won’t we?”

“Oh, definitely,” Belinda said. “We are most grateful, Rose. We’ll follow along in a while, then, shall we? I want to show Georgie the harbor and the ferry.”

“You know where to find us, I take it?” And Rose laughed as she walked toward a shiny new Daimler motorcar parked across the street.

Belinda waited until Rose had driven off, then she turned back to me. There was a look on her face that I couldn’t read.

“That was jolly kind of her, wasn’t it?” I said. “Now we’ll have a decent bathroom and a bed that doesn’t squeak.”

I stopped, seeing her face. She was angry, but more than that. She was confused too.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“Old friends, indeed,” she snapped. “Do you know who she was? She was my grandmother’s cook’s daughter. She lived with an aunt for most of the year but she used to come to stay with us in the summers. She was a pathetic creature, really. She hung around and wanted to be part of our group. We usually let her although Jonquil could be quite scathing about her. She wasn’t at all athletic like the rest of us, you see. If it came to climbing rocks, she had to be rescued. She couldn’t ride, so she didn’t join us if we went out on our ponies. And she wasn’t even that grateful when we included her. A bit of a sneak, you know. She spied on me. Read my diary. Told tales.”

“Well, I suppose everyone improves after childhood. I was shy and awkward when I first met you,” I commented.

“Yes, but she was the cook’s daughter.”

“Belinda, that’s horribly snobbish of you. You should be pleased that she’s improved her status in life and made a good marriage.”

“I suppose I would be if I hadn’t disliked her so much before. But that’s not the only fly in the ointment here. The main problem is Tony Summers.”

“He was one of your group down here?”

She nodded. “He was the group’s leader. He and Jonquil. We were all in awe of both of them and followed them around. His father was something in the City. Banking or investing. Incredibly rich. Tony went to Eton. They rented a place down here every summer and Tony would come with his mother while his father stayed in London. He was very handsome even then. And so cocky, so self-assured. All the girls had a crush on him. I certainly did, but he didn’t ever notice me. I was two years younger and rather gangly and awkward at that age.”

“So why are you reluctant to see him again?” I asked.