Angelica runs obediently into the hall and returns with her net. I take it from her. The moth continues its slow worshiping spiral round the lamp. I gauge my stroke, yet even I am surprised by the creature’s fierce resistance. I keep the net pressed against the glass and after some minutes the moth ceases to struggle. Angelica has gone pale.

“Oh Mummy, let it go. It’s too big. Don’t kill it.”

I pick up a magazine and slide it across the open end of the net. I set the net on the table and weight the handle with a book. Then I go into the kitchen and return with a jar of chloroform and a rag. Angelica is crying now, tugging at my sleeve as I remove the stopper from the jar and pour some of the chloroform onto the rag. I look at the moth trapped inside the net. Its wings are covered in fur, pale tawny brown. I imagine the lash of release if I were to lift the net and set the creature free.

“It will die soon anyway.” Leonard’s words seem decisive. Angelica stares at him, then at me. You nod. I raise the net an inch and put the chloroform-soaked rag inside. For a moment no one speaks.

“Come on,” I say to Angelica at last, holding out my hand, “time for bed.”

That night, as I lie awake, I seem to hear the soft flutter of wings circle the ceiling above my head. I think about Angelica’s plea for mercy, Leonard’s commonsense remark, my determination to capture the moth for Julian. I remember Stella, Thoby, Mother. How preposterous their dying seemed.

I get out of bed and throw a shawl round my shoulders. The sitting room is dark except for a shaft of moonlight from the uncurtained window. The net is still on the table, held in place by the book. I go over to it and peer in. I can see the moth clearly in the moonlight. It seems smaller now that it is at rest. I open the window and feel the cool air flood the room. I pick up the net with the magazine still pressing against it and take it over to the window. Then I lift the magazine and shake the moth gently free. I remain for some time watching in vain for the moth’s flight. Finally I close the window.

As I turn to go I see your silhouette in the doorway.

“I thought I heard you come in here. Is it dead?”

“I think so. I tried to let it go though I didn’t see it fly away.”

“You goose. So now you’ve offended everyone. You can’t tell Angelica it’s alive and nor can you give Julian his prize.”

“It’s true Julian would have loved it.”

You come over to the window.