Evie nodded. ‘He was educated at Eton. They don’t exactly go out of their way to help boys express their feelings. And I’ve only just discovered that his mother died when he was ten and his father would have nothing to do with him and packed him off to school.’

‘That’s a familiar story here. Not necessarily that parents don’t want to have their children around them, but that they send them off to boarding schools back in Britain and only get to see them for a few weeks every year. As a result, most of the men out here have never grown up properly – they behave as if they’re still at boarding school and they haven’t a clue how to talk to women. We’re an alien species!’ Mary cocked her head in the direction of the big pool where a group of young men were horsing around, whooping and yelling while carrying each other on their shoulders and ducking one another under the water. ‘They leave the tender embrace of their mothers and amahs for a regime of ‘six of the best’, tightly reined-in emotions, and playing pranks.’

‘Douglas isn’t the prank-playing type.’ Evie laughed lightly. ‘He’s quite the opposite. Rather serious. Apart from business, he has little time for socialising at all. His only real friend is Arthur Leighton and I think they get on because they’re so different.’ She felt an illicit thrill to be mentioning Arthur’s name. ‘Probably because Arthur didn’t go to public school.’

‘He’s done extremely well for himself.’

‘He’s a clever man.’ Evie told herself she had to stop this urge to speak about Arthur. She didn’t want to give away her still-present feelings for him. Forcing herself back to the topic of Douglas and Jasmine, where the conversation had begun, she said, ‘Anyway, what I was saying, is that it’s often been quite tricky for my husband and I to understand each other, but things are so much better. Christmas was really special.’

Mary Helston looked wistful. ‘I find Christmas hard. It reminds me of how much I’ve lost.’ She leaned back, setting her mouth in a firm line. ‘Better not to dwell on all that.’

Evie had been about to tell Mary that she was expecting a child but decided now was not the best moment. Mary would have to know eventually, and Evie wanted her to be the first outside the immediate family.

Jasmine and Penny rushed up, full of excitement, bursting with energy and spraying water everywhere as they approached. Evie wrapped a towel around Jasmine and rubbed her dry as Mary did the same for Penny. The two little girls giggled and jostled each other.

‘She is!’ whispered Penny. ‘Ask her, if you don’t believe me.’

‘She isn’t,’ said Jasmine.

Penny jerked a shoulder against her friend. ‘I bet she is. My mummy’s always right.’

‘Right about what?’ Mary Helston asked, provoking another fit of giggles from the two girls.

Jasmine struggled free from the towel and put her hands on her hips. ‘All right.’ She faced Evie. ‘Penny says you’re going to have a baby.’