Adelaide’s eyes brightened, and she clutched at this meagre offering with, Margot thought, unwonted enthusiasm. ‘I had the same experience! Margot, I am persuaded it was not a bird. I am sure there was someone there, only when I went to look, she had faded into the wind.’
‘She?’
‘I think there was a woman there, for I am sure I saw the flicker of rose-red skirts.’
Rose-red. The words sparked a feeling of recognition in Margot, for she would have used similar words to describe her own brief glimpse of colour. ‘But how could she fade into the wind?’ she asked.
‘I do not know, but I think… I wonder if perhaps it was Oriane? She had a skirt of such a colour, once.’
‘Did she?’ Margot had not known, and this snippet of information briefly influenced her. But she decided against the idea, an
