“Remember last night I said it didn’t taste bitter? It usually does, and I hate to admit I don’t like it, so I pour it into one of the plants. Well, Tony usually stays on in the dining room to have brandy and a cigar while I go through to the drawing room for my coffee. Last night you were here so Tony came with us. And the coffee didn’t taste bitter. Which made me wonder: does he usually put something in my coffee? Something that is slowly poisoning me?”

“But how could he do that if he stays in the dining room?” I asked.

“The coffee is left in thermos jugs on the table,” she said. “He could have tampered with it before dinner. He sometimes goes for a call of nature. He’d have plenty of chances.”

Belinda put a hand on Rose’s shoulder. “Rose, I think you’re imagining all this. Living alone in that big house, living the sort of life you are not used to, as well as the shock of losing the baby . . . well, maybe it’s been playing on your nerves.”

Rose shook her head. “No. I’m not imagining. I’m afraid, Belinda.”

“You’ll have another child soon, I’m sure, and then everything will be all right and Tony will be happy,” Belinda said.

Rose shook her head. “The doctor says it’s unlikely I’ll have another. This one was in the tubes and something ruptured. That’s another reason he wants to get rid of me.”

“Oh, Rose,” Belinda said gently. “Please don’t get so upset.”

Rose shrugged her off. “I don’t know if he ever fancied me in the first place. I was just a friendly shoulder to cry on. And he’s certainly lost interest now. I saw the way he looked at you yesterday.”

“Men always look at me like that,” Belinda said carelessly. “I’m just that sort of girl.”

“You’re the sort of girl he wishes he had married.” Rose sounded as if she was close to tears. “Tony doesn’t want me anymore and the most convenient way to get rid of me is to make sure I have an accident.”

She started walking ahead of us, moving quickly between the giant leaves and the overhanging vines until a series of steps led us down to a little beach. We came out into a small cove with black water lapping a few yards from us. Cliffs rose on all sides, disappearing into the mist, and that little stream fanned out into rivulets through the sand to be swallowed up into the estuary. Somewhere above us we could hear seagulls mewing.

“So what do you plan to do about it?” Belinda asked.