That night, Prudence lay sleepless in her opulent guest-room bed. The huge villa was silent. From the moment she had arrived in Greece, to a world of luxury and privilege that was as foreign to her as the hot climate, she had felt as though she was living in someone else’s dream. Not a pleasant dream, either; more of a nightmare where everything-even the way people behaved-was unfamiliar. She had done her utmost to please her grandfather. That had meant stifling her natural shyness and accepting the social invitations that he had organised in advance of her arrival. Eirene, the teenaged daughter of one of Theo’s friends, had acted as her companion for all of those painful outings into high society.

Prudence had stuck out like a sore thumb at those exclusive gatherings. Eirene belonged to an élite set of rich and spoiled young people who dressed in the latest fashion, went wild playing reckless games at parties and still contrived to behave as though all the world was a bore. Prudence had found them silly and superficial and the females had been horribly bitchy to her. Time and time again she had squirmed behind her fixed smile, never daring to retaliate, knowing she could not risk offending anyone who might complain about her to her grandfather. Not once had she allowed herself to forget the central issue of her mother’s desperate plight.

Trixie Hill had been a well-known catwalk model when she met Apollo Demakis and fell in love with him. The young Greek playboy had showered her with expensive gifts and asked her to marry him. For over a year Prudence’s fun-loving parents had jetted round the world from one party to the next.