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came the purring and crackling of a car coming down the drive. Meredith quickly strode over to the window. Looking past her, Daisy could see a dark-green car and a slim man with dark eyes and greying temples getting out of the driver’s seat. Meredith remained motionless for amoment. Then she turned around and gave Daisy a distracted look.
    ‘Look, you can change in here if you like,’ she said. ‘Just take your stuff with you when you go, and pay at the entrance table. All right, Daisy Phillips?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Daisy. ‘Thank you.’ Meredith turned to her reflection in the gilt mirror and tossed back her hair.
    ‘How does my suit look?’ she demanded.
    ‘Fantastic,’ said Daisy honestly.
    ‘It ought to,’ said Meredith, ‘it cost enough.’ She picked up a deep-red towel, slipped her feet into a pair of black leather sandals and closed the door behind her.
    Outside, on the landing, Meredith paused and allowed a small dart of delight in her chest to flower a little. Through the circular window above the stairs she could still just see the corner of Alexis Faraday’s car. He was here; Alexis was here. Downstairs, maybe, or outside, already lying back and soaking up the sun. Meredith threw back her shoulders and began to walk down the stairs. Then she remembered: sunglasses. Abruptly she turned back and threw open the door to her room. Daisy looked round, startled. She was down to only a pair of knickers.
    ‘Forgot my shades,’ said Meredith. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Daisy blushed; a delicate pink which spread down as far as her full white breasts. Meredith watched, interestedly, as the colour gradually faded. ‘Got sun block?’ she enquired, picking up a pair of opaque black sunglasses.
    ‘Y-yes,’ stumbled Daisy.
    ‘Good,’ said Meredith, ‘you need it.’ And without further comment she left the room, put on her dark glasses and made her way out to the swimming-pool, and to Alexis.
    Ten miles away, in an unbearably hot, dusty and clogged line of traffic, Barnaby finally lost his temper.
    ‘All right, Katie!’ he shouted. There was sudden silence in the car. ‘Stop whining! If you’ve really changed your mind; if you really want to go swimming, then we’ll go swimming.’
    With a suddenly heavy heart he brutally changed into reverse gear and, ignoring the irritation of the other drivers on the road, swung the car round. He changed gear again, put his foot down, and sped off down the clear side of the road, back towards Melbrook, the Delaneys’ house, and the swimming-pool.

Chapter Three
    Amelia and Katie were doing somersaults in the shallow end of the pool. Katie loved doing somersaults. She whirled round in the water, clutching her nose tight, feeling breathless and blue and shiny, then emerged into the warm sunny air with triumph.
    ‘There!’ She pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. ‘I went round twice.’
    ‘No you didn’t,’ said Amelia, who was bouncing up and down on the floor of the pool. ‘I was watching.’
    ‘I did! It felt like twice.’
    ‘It was a very long once,’ conceded Amelia, ‘but it wasn’t twice. Even I can’t go round twice; I always run out of breath. Now,’ she instructed, grabbing Katie before she could plunge into the water again, ‘I’ll do a handstand, and you see how long I stay up. Count like this, one thousand, two thousand.’
    ‘OK,’ agreed Katie. ‘Then me.’ She watched, swimming breathlessly on the spot, as Amelia disappeared under the blue water. A moment later a pair of wavering legs appeared.
    ‘One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four thousand, five thousand,’ counted Katie rapidly. Then she stopped. Was she going too fast? ‘Six thou–sand,’ she enunciated carefully, ‘sev–en thou–sand.’ On the other hand, perhaps that was too slow. She trailed a finger in the bright iridescent surface of the swimming-pool. The water was just right; cold enough so that she’d squealed when she jumped in, but not so