Evie’s eyebrows shot upwards and she couldn’t help a disbelieving snort.

‘Her father was a Russian merchant seaman and her mother was a half-caste – the grandmother was a Kikuyu woman who was the common-law wife of an Irish settler. She was shunned by her tribe when she went with him. He died of drink in a Nairobi slum and Veronica’s mother became a prostitute. So not exactly out of the top drawer. Veronica has always gone to great pains to keep her family tree a closely guarded secret.’

Evie was dumbfounded. ‘No one knows?’

Arthur’s lips stretched into a mirthless smile. ‘Doug knows. He doesn’t care a jot about such things. But no one else has a clue. No one in Malaya has ever guessed that she has a less than perfect pedigree.’ He laughed drily. ‘In fact, they probably think she married beneath her station with me.’

Evie said nothing. Everything she had understood to be truth was imploding.

‘What I’m about to tell you no one else knows. Not even Doug. Can I trust you?’

She nodded, feeling miserable.

‘One of her mother’s clients…’ Arthur turned his head away from her. ‘One of them interfered with Veronica when she was only twelve. Look, Evie, I’m not going to beat about the bush – he raped her.’

Evie was shocked. It was hard to comprehend something so horrible happening to Veronica. ‘That’s horrible – she was a child!’

‘She ran away and was found on the streets and brought up in an orphanage by missionaries. Despite what happened – or maybe because of it –Veronica has a core of steel. She worked hard and eventually talked her way into a job in the typing pool in the District Commissioner’s Office.

‘She was a good worker and already knew how to project herself in a positive light – she charmed the DC.’ Arthur paused, brushing sand off his leg as he gazed out to sea. ‘You have to understand something else about Veronica, what happened to her made her promiscuous. It’s a compulsion with her, as though she believes her only value lies in her body and men’s appreciation of it. She’ll sleep with a man she despises, because knowing she’s desired makes her feel better about herself.’ He looked up at Evie. ‘But the truth is she despises herself.’

‘That’s awful. But why did you marry her?’ Evie could hear the resentment in her own voice.

He scratched the back of his palm, evidently nervous telling her all this.

‘We were friendly. But no more so than with anyone else in the office. Then one evening, after everyone had gone home, I found her crying. She thought she was alone in the office.’ He stopped, frowning. ‘Or maybe she wanted me to think she’d thought she was alone.’ He gave a dry laugh.

‘It all came out. She’d been having an affair with the DC. A man in his fifties. Married with children of course. And she’d just found out she was pregnant.’