She felt sure of herself, the thoughts in her head for once running in straight lines, no tangles. They had heard about Susie today, safe and sound in Harare where Jerry had despatched her the moment trouble broke. Sarah had sent a telegram asking her to telephone as soon as she could, but heaven knew when that would be. The telephone connections were erratic in the extreme, no-one quite knew why.

They dined on squid and pepper steak and danced to ‘String of Pearls’. An attractive couple, she tall in her high heels, he square and stocky. Sarah was a good dancer, good enough in fact to make her husband appear better than he was. He always said he could never dance so well with anyone else. When at last they left for home it was in a mood of sleepy content, and if Sarah was less than happy with her lot she knew better than to say so. The lights were still on downstairs as they turned into the drive.

‘Damn, I hoped your mother would be safely tucked up and we’d have the place to ourselves. Have a brandy and a cuddle.’ Douglas let his hand rest on his wife’s knee.

‘She’s up late though. I wonder if there’s any news.’

Sarah opened the car door and ran quickly to the house.

Mrs Melling was perched on the sofa, her plump face alight with excitement.

‘She phoned! Susie phoned!’ she said as soon as she saw her daughter. ‘It must have cost a fortune, she was on for absolutely ages.’

‘Is she all right? What’s happening?’ Sarah felt an unreasoning irritation that the news should come secondhand, that as always she was denied an active part in something that so directly concerned her. Douglas came in and rested his hands on her shoulders. She resisted the urge to pull herself free.

‘She’s in hospital,’ said Mrs Melling breathlessly. ‘Nothing serious, or so she says, but you can never believe Susie about things like that. Do you remember when she hurt her wrist, it was days before she’d go to the doctor—’

Douglas moved to the cocktail cabinet and poured two brandies. ‘Just tell us what’s the matter with her, Margaret,’ he said and directed a laughing glance of conspiracy at his wife. Sarah ignored him.

‘It’s the baby,’ went on Mrs Melling, fluttering her ringed and manicured hands. ‘Blood pressure or something. Well, what can you expect, fleeing from an uprising. As I said to her, couldn’t Jerry have taken some precautions?’

‘Like what?’ asked Sarah, looking bewildered. ‘Mount a machine gun on the roof, do you mean?’

‘Oh, I don’t know. Anyway now he’s left Susie all alone in the hospital and gone racing back to get shot by some murderous native I don’t doubt. Why he can’t be with her in Harare I do not know and actually to suggest that you might go out—I told Susie what I thought of that idea. It’s quite bad enough having one daughter in danger of her life without sending the other out to join her.’

‘Sounds like one of Jerry’s mad ideas,’ agreed Douglas, handing Sarah her brandy glass. She took it absently.

‘As I said to her,’ went on Mrs Melling, ‘she should come home at once. But she won’t hear of it, says the hospital won’t allow it and even if they would she’s not leaving Jerry. Though what she sees in him I shall never know, he dresses so untidily for one thing—’

‘The casual look,’ chuckled Douglas. ‘Jerry takes it to extremes, I fear.’

It suddenly occurred to Sarah that Douglas should have married her mother, they would have been ideally suited. He would laugh at her and pet her and they would both adore it.