From the very start Rud only kept the enquiries going for her sake. He’d never believed there was the slightest chance. She’d raged when she realised that. If they gave up hoping it would be letting John go.
She drew out her cambric handkerchief and passed it gently over the glass covered face.
While she still lived here in Bateman’s, he wasn’t utterly lost to her. She could conjure him among the early mists, a boy urging his dog away from the ditches beyond the lawns.
Brother and sister were pacing the grey-flagged terrace, out in the sunshine, lifting their faces now and then to the drifting scent of lilac. Mike, the black Aberdeen terrier playfully nipping at their heels, begged in vain for a walk.
‘Later, old chap, I promise,’ Rud bent to look into his eyes.
‘Did I tell you, Ruddy
