Philip Westropp was walking towards her. Sombre-suited, sombre-faced, with a Bible clutched in his left hand, he could have been a young preacher come to offer comfort. ‘I guessed you'd be here,' he said. 'I didn't want to cause any embarrassment.' 'All those years, and you don't want to embarrass us?' 'None of you harmed me. I harmed myself.
Pip, about Emily, I was, I am, I always will be, so, so sorry…'
'That's OK. Water under the… It was a long time ago.' He smiled faintly. 'When I first understood what had happened, I used to fantasize that you saved me because I was your favourite.' She shook her head. 'You saved me,' she said. 'It was dark down there. Dim shapes and waving weeds. I just grabbed. If there hadn't been anything to grab at, I think I would never have come up.' 'Are you glad you did?' 'For your sake, of course. For my own? I can't say.' 'What will you do?" ‘Is this official?' 'It can be if you like.' 'Then the answer is, I don't know. But I'll do it quietly, that's for sure. ‘What about you? Do you really work for the CIA?' 'Why not? It's in the blood, so to speak.' 'But you're British…' 'I was born here, remember? Mom was American. And I renounced any claim I had to dual nationality way back. I prefer the American Way.' 'Because it's better?' 'Because it could be,' he said. 'You can cure sickness, you can't resurrect a corpse.' The image seemed to remind them where they were. They looked down into the grave in silence for a while. 'Did you really know him?' asked Philip. 'No,' she said, surprised. ‘Didn't you?' 'No. There was always something… a barrier…' Cissy dug into her purse. 'This was his,' she said, proffering the pillbox. 'Would you like it?' 'No,' he said without hesitation. OK.' She opened her fingers and the crested box fell into the grave. 'Goodbye, Pip,' she said. 'Goodbye.
Oh, this is yours, I think,' he added, handing over the Bible. 'We have no use for it.' She took it, opened it, read her mother's inscription with a faint smile. 'Me neither,' she said, tossing it into the grave alongside the glittering pillbox. Then she beckoned the waiting bulldozer to advance, turned, and walked swiftly away.