When Evie woke the next morning, to her surprise Douglas was still lying beside her. To her even greater surprise he was looking at her. She felt her cheeks redden, remembering what had happened the night before, what they had done, how she had felt.

‘I was watching you sleeping,’ he said, stroking a lock of hair away from her forehead. He bent his head and brushed her mouth with his. She felt the roughness of his unshaved chin against her skin. He was smiling. ‘Thank you, for staying. Thank you for last night. For everything.’

A warm glow spread through her. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Had she at last broken through his coldness? Might he even be beginning to care for her? She was about to reach for his hand, to put her own hands on his body, to rediscover the pleasures of the night before, when he swung his legs off the bed and bounced onto his feet.

‘I have to go.’

She pulled herself up to a sitting position. ‘Now? Can’t you stay a while?’

‘Duty calls. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.’

‘Where are you going?’ As he put on his dressing gown, Evie noticed the familiar look of irritation cross his face and she felt a hollowness in her stomach.

‘I have a rubber estate to run.’ His voice was cold. It was as if a switch had flipped inside him. Without a further glance towards her, he was gone.

13

Once Jasmine had left for school, Evie, determined not to dwell on what had happened between herself and Douglas, decided she needed to get away from the house. Remembering what Dorothy Rogers had said the previous evening about the pleasures of the Penang Swimming Club, she asked Benny to drive her there. An act of bravery, when inside all she wanted to do was climb back into bed and hide away from the world.

When they arrived at Tanjung Bungah, to the north of George Town on the coast, Evie was glad she’d come. Telling Benny to return for her in a few hours, she went into the rambling late-Victorian clubhouse to change into her swimsuit, delighted that the place was relatively quiet. Steering clear of a group of women occupying deckchairs on the lawn near the long blue pool, she went to the far end and slipped down the metal ladder into the salt water.

Evie had learned to swim on family holidays in Cornwall and the South of France. Her father, a strong swimmer, had taught her, and she had happy memories of those halcyon childhood days, before her mother embarked on her infidelities and her father had fallen prey to the pressures that led to him embezzling money and taking his own life.

Being in the water imbued Evie with energy. She powered up and down the pool, telling herself just one more length, but unable to stop. Eventually, exhausted but revitalised, she clambered out. Reluctant to face the heat, she sat at the pool-side in a shaded area, her feet dangling in the water. The pool ran parallel to the beach and the azure sea looked tempting. She could see the familiar outline of Kedah Peak from here.