Arthur reached for his towel. ‘So that’s why I can’t leave her. Why I can’t abandon her. It would be placing a sentence of death upon her.’ He rubbed the towel through his hair. ‘But it’s not only that. We’re both selfish and ambitious and, if I’m honest, I’m more so than she is. The truth is I recognised in Veronica something in myself – a burning desire to better herself. I don’t love her. I never have. She doesn’t love me either. We don’t even sleep together. That’s another thing. Despite her promiscuity, Veronica doesn’t actually like that side of things. I live like a monk.’

He looked up above their heads into the dark interior of the casuarina tree, then dropped his gaze again to meet hers. ‘You are the only person on earth I’ve told about all this, Evie. My marriage to Veronica is a form of mutualism – we have a symbiotic relationship. If I were to leave her it would also be the end of my career. They don’t like divorced men in the civil service.’

He pulled his trousers on over his sun-dried trunks and said, ‘I have to go. I’m already late. I’m sorry.’ Giving her a tight-lipped smile, he turned and made his way along the beach towards the glint of metal through the trees which was his car.

Evie felt numb. Yet at the same time, relieved. She told herself that what had happened in the sea had been a flash of madness. They had both been caught up in the moment, and now she had to put it behind her.

Arthur Leighton had gone out of his way to try to make it hard for Evie to feel anything for him. He had tried to persuade her he was a selfish, ambitious man who had put his career before everything else. But she sensed his main rationale for taking on Veronica had been compassion. The idea of Arthur as a cold and ruthless careerist didn’t square with everything else she knew about the man who had just held her in his arms and kissed her passionately.

There was something corrupting about Malaya. A sense of decay. Something that made even the most decent of people lose their moral code. Just thinking about the oddness of the Leightons’ marriage made her feel queasy. She reminded herself that her own was no less odd and had also been born out of pragmatism not love.

14

A few days later, looking for distraction from her almost constant thoughts of Arthur Leighton, Evie collected Jasmine after school for a visit to the Waterfall Garden, the botanical garden on the outskirts of George Town. They wandered through the tropical paradise of winding footpaths, colourful flowers and waterfalls, with wild monkeys screaming as they swung through the trees. Jasmine had never visited the place before and was delighted to see the monkeys at close quarters.

They lost track of time and had to hurry back towards where Benny would be waiting for them in the motor car. Jasmine skipped along beside Evie and after a few minutes she reached up and took her hand.