She hesitated. “Fear, mainly. I was so afraid. The war dragged on, it seemed as if it would never end. And you tell yourself, ‘He can make it a few more days, another month, he can last out this year, there’s so little of it left!’ But you know, deep down inside, that he can’t live forever, that simple arithmetic, the number of shots fired, the number of shells that fall, the number of assaults and snipers—they have to find their targets, sometimes. And it’s really a matter of chance—the hazards of war—” She broke off and spread her napkin across her lap, taking pains with it so that he couldn’t see her face. He wondered whether she was speaking mostly about Peter or Nicholas. And told himself that he was being unfair to judge her for Peter’s sake.

Then she said in a different voice, “That’s all that you had to say to Mr. Chambers? Or he to you?”

“What were you expecting him to tell me? That he’d been waiting for me or someone like me, to come down here and open Pandora’s Box?”

“No,” she said, wistfulness in her face. “I don’t know what I expected. Not really.”

“Did Olivia like flowers? Pansies, for an example? Did she plant pansies in the gardens at the Hall? Or out on the moors?”

“There’ve always been drifts of pansies in the borders at the Hall. I don’t have any idea who planted them first. But Nicholas was very fond of them, I do know that. As for pansies on the moors,” she shook her head, “I don’t recall ever finding pansies there. But then I never looked for them.”

“I’m having the moors searched again. For Richard’s body.”

Rachel sighed. “Do you think you’ll find it? After all these years?”

“Who knows? I have to look.”

“Constable Dawlish must have been very happy about that!”

Rutledge shrugged. “I didn’t make an inquiry into his feelings on the subject. I just asked him to set up a search.”

She regarded him for a moment, then said, “You’re used to having your way, aren’t you?”

Surprised, he said, “No. I seldom have my way. But when something has to be done, and the local man can do it better than I can, I expect him to get on with it. He knows who can be spared for the job—”

“While you,” she said irritably, “sit in a warm and dry inn!”

“Hardly that. I saw you walking towards the Hall earlier. Why?”

Trask brought a tray with their orders, cutlets for him, a breast of chicken for her, and began to arrange the plates on the table, saving her from having to answer.