The truth of his words hurt like an arrow’s strike. It took me a moment to catch my breath.

“And I think, Thomas, that you have a particular way of saying the most hurtful things deliberately to make people suffer,” I said. “I have observed that cruelty in you many times.” He took a breath to speak, but I went on: “Yet for all that you congratulate yourself on your perspicacity, I know something that you do not. A true parent puts their child before all else. It does not matter if that child rejects or rebuffs them. They will not falter in their desire to protect them from harm. That is and always has been my aim for Robert, no matter whether he is close to me or not.” I met his eyes very directly. “I do not believe that you are good for Robert. Yes, you and he have the same questing spirit. Yours has led you into dispute with the authorities, into danger because of your religious beliefs, to imprisonment and financial ruin. I will not countenance that happening to Robert. Keep away from him.”

I left him standing on the terrace staring after me. Wrapping my arms about myself, I hurried indoors and back to fire, for though the December day was mild enough, in my heart it felt as though winter was coming.

Eleven

Lucy

“You’re up early,” Johnny said.

Lucy was curled up on one of the sun loungers on the terrace with her second cup of coffee of the day when he appeared on the footpath that skirted the garden. The dew was still shining like crystal drops on the grass and in the shade the air was cool, but the sun was already up and promised another hot day.

“I woke up at dawn,” Lucy admitted. “There’s an owl that sits on the roof and calls very loudly, and last night there was something barking away down the valley; it didn’t sound like a dog, but a fox perhaps?”

“Or a deer?” Johnny suggested. “They bark in the night sometimes.”

“And people think the country is peaceful!” Lucy said.

Johnny laughed. “For a moment I thought you were going to say you’d been up all night,” he said. “I thought you might be another one who enjoys impromptu camping. Finn often spends nights down at the lake in the summer.”

“I met him and Geoffrey down there last night when I went for a walk.” Lucy waved her mug at him. “Would you like a coffee?”

“I’ve just had one, thanks.” Johnny sat down on the wall that encircled the terrace, clearly happy to have a chat if not a coffee. “I wouldn’t have had you pegged as an outdoors type,” he said, “more a sybarite like me.”

“I like luxury as much as the next person,” Lucy admitted, “but it was such a beautiful night that I can see why you might choose to be outside.” She stretched. “At least I got a decent night’s sleep last night, which makes a change—” She stopped.