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herself sharing a room with. This way she’ll have a bit of a breathing space. Time to settle in a bit and get to know people.’
    â€˜Of course,’ said Caroline thoughtfully, ‘that’s the good thing about the Navy, isn’t it? Wherever you go there’s that framework. People you know, old friends you meet up with.’
    â€˜That’s quite true,’ said Fliss at once. ‘It’s surprising how many of Miles’s oppos are out in Hong Kong. It’ll be quite a reunion by the sound of it. The wives will be able to show me the ropes. It’s a comforting thought, I must say.’
    â€˜You’ll be a real old hand by the time you get home again,’ said Fox cheerfully. ‘What a lot there’ll be to tell us. Mind you take lots of photos, maid. We’ll want to see it all.’
    â€˜Of course I will,’ Fliss assured him. She swallowed, pressing her lips together, and tried to smile. ‘I only wish I could take you all with me.’
    â€˜And that’s a fine thought I must say,’ said Ellen, passing behind her and pausing for a second to grip Fliss’s shoulder. ‘Carting a lot of old folk out to Hong Kong. Whatever next, I wonder. But we shall be here waiting for you to come back, just you be certain of that. Now finish that tea and you shall have some porridge.’

Chapter Five
    Freddy moved slowly along the path under the courtyard wall, dead-heading the roses which climbed and flourished amongst the branches of the wisteria and clematis. Her thick hair had faded now to silver but she still wore it in a heavy bun on the nape of her neck, an old linen hat tilted above it to shield her eyes from the sun. Her arms were bare, tanned a deep brown from hours in the garden, her old tweed skirt snagged and pulled out of shape from years of bending and kneeling amongst her beloved flowers and plants. Yet there was still an elegance and grace about her, emphasised by her tall slenderness. A robin was keeping her company, trilling his tune from the branches above her, cocking his head to see if she were enjoying his song. Occasionally he darted down to forage amongst the woody roots or flew up to the top of the wall to preen his feathers. Freddy talked to him quietly, glad that he was there.
    The children had returned to their respective homes and The Keep seemed quieter than usual without them. There was, she decided as she snipped, a particular feeling when any of the children were about, yet each child created a different atmosphere. She paused for a moment, wondering if this were a flight of fancy, deciding that it was true. Take Hal, for instance. Hal made you feel alert and ready for action. Your privacy might be disrupted at any moment: a carful of young people was likely to roll in beneath the arch of the gatehouse or there might be a complete stranger at the breakfast table, invited back after a jolly evening at the pub. Whenever she felt inclined to resent this somewhat cavalier attitude, Freddy strove to remember that Hal, at some distant time – perhaps not too distant now – might be master here. He was the executor for her will and a trustee, for she had been persuaded at last to take proper legal advice and put the whole estate into a trust, and she had given him power of attorney. She had been grieved to go back on her word for he was no longer her heir – she had no heir as such – but it was understood and accepted by the family that he was the most likely of her grandchildren to use The Keep as his home and to have the salary to help to maintain it. It was good that he felt so at home here, good that The Keep would be thrown open by his generous hospitality. For so many years now it had been more of a refuge: a refuge for herself and her fatherless twins; a refuge for the three orphaned children returning from Kenya; a refuge, too, for Theo when he decided to give up his flat in Southsea and come home at last. Now