‘Still in bed, saying he hasn’t the energy to get up. Shall I tell him you are here, senhora?’

‘No, I will go and see him myself.’

Knocking on her father’s bedroom door, and receiving no response, she opened it and walked inside. The shutters were tightly closed against the bright midday sun, and she could barely make out the shape huddled under the covers.

‘Pai, it is me, Izabela. Are you ill?’

There was a grunt from the bed, but nothing more.

‘I’m going to open the shutters so that I can take a look at you,’ she said, going over to the windows and throwing them wide. She turned and saw her father was feigning sleep, so she walked over to the bed and sat down on it.

‘Pai, please tell me, what is wrong with you?’

‘I cannot go on without her,’ Antonio moaned. ‘What is the point in anything if she is not here?’

‘Pai, you promised Mãe on her deathbed that you would carry on. She is probably looking down on you now from the heavens this very moment, shouting at you to get up!’

‘I don’t believe in the heavens, or God,’ he growled morosely. ‘What kind of deity would remove from the earth my precious Carla, who had never done a single bad thing in the whole of her life?’

‘Well, she did believe, and so do I,’ Bel replied staunchly. ‘We both know there is never a reason behind these things. You had twenty-two wonderful years together. Surely you must be grateful for them? And try to fulfil her wish that you carry on in memory of her?’

Her father did not respond, so Bel tried another tack.

‘Pai, you must know what is happening in America at present? Maurício said last night that they think another crash might happen on Wall Street at any moment. The senate is holding an emergency meeting right now to discuss the impact on Brazil. All the major coffee producers are there. Surely you should be there too?’

‘No, Bel, it is too late,’ sighed Antonio. ‘I didn’t sell the stocks I had when I should have done, believing others were panicking. Yesterday, after you left, my stockbroker called to tell me that the market had fallen and many of my shares were already worth nothing. He says there is worse to come today. Izabela, most of our cash was invested in Wall Street. I have lost everything.’

‘Pai, surely that can’t be true? Even if you have lost your stocks, you own many farms that must be worth a lot of money? Even if coffee doesn’t sell so well now and in the future, you have the properties themselves?’

‘Izabela,’ Antonio sighed quietly, ‘please do not begin to try and understand business. I borrowed money from the banks to buy those farms. And they were very willing to lend it to me while coffee yields and the sale price of the beans was so high. As those prices have dropped, I’ve struggled to keep on top of the repayments. The banks wanted more security and so I had to give them this house as collateral against any default. Izabela, do you understand? Now they will take everything I own to pay off my debts. If my stocks in America have gone as well, I have nothing left, not even a roof over my head.’