Patty said to herself that any moment now she would spill either the mint sauce or the gravy. Mrs Haverty, alert by the door, thought she could have efficiently assisted with the peas and the potatoes, and felt cross that she had not been asked. She had managed to fit into the uniform that had been worn by a maid of similar size in the past; it seemed hard that she was not permitted to advance further than the sideboard.

‘When Villana and I are married I am to live at Carriglas,’ Finnamore informed his interlocutor in an effort to alter the nature of the conversation. ‘That has been agreed between us because Villana wishes it, because Villana has lived here all her life. Well, of course I am delighted,’ Finnamore went on, taking pleasure in his revelations now. ‘But I had seriously to consider the fate of my cat and my maid. I did not ask my maid to accompany me, and Villana has a fear of cats.’

‘I should have thought the extra help of your maid might have been welcomed.’

It would be alien for her here. She is no longer young and was a boon companion of my mother’s. No, it is better not so. My clerk, Eugene Prille, has found good homes for both of them.’

‘Prille?’

‘That is the name of my clerk.’

‘Well, that’s most interesting. Most interesting. It is not a name I am familiar with.’ Mrs Camier paused, and then continued: it’s a wrench to be parted from a pet. You’ll find it so?’

Indeed. Prille is a Huguenot name originally. Eugene passed his childhood in Macroom.’

Mr Balt, there is something you are not telling me, I think!’

‘Well, only perhaps that when I come to Carriglas I shall be closer to the condition of the estate. It is a dream, shared with Villana, that between us we may return Carriglas to its former glory.’

‘Now how very nice that sounds!’

‘Due in part to generosity and in part to negligence, much is in need of attention. There is land that must be winkled back to the family. I, with knowledge of such matters, will perhaps devote my life to that. I do not know if you’re aware of the history of this family? In particular of the generation we call the Famine Rollestons?’

‘I think not.’

‘The John Rolleston of that time married Catherine Esmond of Ninemilecross. It was they who first of all waived the rents.’

‘How odd of them!’

‘People had perished all around them. If they had not died of starvation they poisoned themselves with the weeds they ate. The Famine Rollestons were widely renowned for their compassion. A most remarkable generation, but alas disastrous in terms of the effect on the family fortunes.’