Diana slipped out past Tom with a smile, tiptoed back up the stairs and pulled her diary out from under her mattress. Daddy was right, she must keep it secret.

Looking out of my window now I can see stars. I hope that means it will be sunny tomorrow. That would be brilliant, in fact better than brilliant. We haven’t seen much sun on this holiday. But it hasn’t stopped Daddy and me from sailing every day. Both Daddy and me are very tanned. I have freckles across my nose and cheeks. Daddy loves them. But Mrs Venn says I should be careful with my skin. She wears a big hat which isn’t very good for sailing. It gets in the way all the time. Daddy laughs a lot around them but I don’t think they are funny.

I wanted more raspberries but I couldn’t find any downstairs, just scones. Maybe Mrs Hoskine had made jam for tomorrow. I don’t think the adults like the raspberries as much as I do. They come from the big garden across the road. It’s all walled in and I love its fruit trees and the raspberry canes. The berries are so sweet and they give me red lips, and earlier I got red fingers. Mrs Hoskine caught me red handed, or red fingered, she said. I giggled.

I hate that Mummy has been so busy. She has had a lot to do to make people happy. She is very good at it. When I told her this she laughed. I love it when she does. She is so beautiful all the time but when she laughs, her eyes sparkle. I’m happy that I make her laugh.

In Moscow we spend so much time looking at art and attending concerts. And not talking about things. She has told me I must never tell anyone where we’ve been or who we have seen. I can tell Daddy, but never anyone else. And never when we are in our apartment. Only when we are outside and alone. I have asked why and she told me it was a secret and she knows I’m good at keeping secrets, like when we surprised Daddy with a party. So I don’t tell anyone about the man I see her talking to when we take my dog, Salome, out for a walk. I haven’t even told Daddy, I don’t think. It’s hard to remember all the things I’m not supposed to say.

I miss Salome and I wish we could bring her here on holidays but we can’t. I hope she is having a nice time at the ambassador’s residence. But she will have to behave so well. No barking in the beautiful rooms. I miss Moscow but I love being here at Boskenna. I wish we could be here always.

Goodnight, diary. I’m feeling sleepy and tomorrow we are going sailing even if the sun doesn’t shine.

Diana

19

Lottie

3 August 2018, 10.20 p.m.

All Gran’s stories of the bygone days filled the empty rooms as Lottie walked through the house shutting lights off. Thoughts of her mother’s diary hidden upstairs vied with her current situation. It was still a struggle to accept that she could go from being a solvent, mortgaged, flat-owner with a promising career, to debt so quickly. Paul was the easy answer. She’d loaned him money for materials for an exciting new contract with a hotel chain. They had wanted him to make exclusive designs for them to sell. God, they had been excited about this. She’d even worked on the designs with him, neglecting her own work for a while.