Having secured the purchase of the house by transferring the deposit to the Russell's solicitor, the looming reality being that in seven days they and their colleagues will be driving to Paverham for Ros's funeral, Harry and Ruth choose to ignore in favour of spending their final day in Southwold collecting paint charts and looking at furnishings as well as speaking to a builder, recommended to them by the manager of the hotel who will he has assured them, leaving them with catalogues from which to choose not only a new bathroom suite but after a closer look new kitchen units, install at the beginning of the new year. The rest of the house and as a priority their own bedroom they have decided to redecorate themselves, which means that the following morning when they are driving up the motorway with nothing more than happy memories, helped when there is a text from Jo saying we're on top of things no need to rush back in, which the Harry of old would have almost certainly done, now when he pulls into the drive he is quite happy to relax for the couple of hours which are available to them before they get ready to go out. Even more so because there is a note on the kitchen table from Malcolm saying that he has gone back to Hastings and will back the day before the funeral?
Ruth on the other hand for reasons that she knows are ridiculous given that Harry has described Andrew and Marianne as the most down to earth couple he knows, has reverted to being the nervous to the point of not wanting to go. Primarily because she can remember their evening at the Home Secretary's house, when she had been separated from Harry on the pretext of calming his wife, whilst he and Harry had a chat, followed by a meal that had they needed to reciprocate would have been impossible in the extreme. Only for these concerns to increase when arrive at what are four properties which can only be accessed by a code on the gate.
Not side lined far from it, Ruth adds normal to Harry's description when Marianne who she had previously imagined as having an hour glass figure gives her a hug saying, 'I hope you like chicken because it's my go to dish.'
'And mine,' says Ruth, only for Marianne to add, 'don't be fooled by the house, we inherited it from Andrew's parents and if it wasn't for his job we'd be following you down to Suffolk, but enough about us tell me about the house that you and Harry are buying.'
Ignoring the fact that her expression must have suggested to Marianne that she couldn't imagine someone wanting to live in a house that in the current market must be worth millions, 'much larger than we actually need and with a lot of updating, some of which Harry and I are going to do ourselves, but it was the view of the marshes beyond the garden that we fell in love with,' Ruth tells her.
And Harry with you, thinks Marianne, because with this simple statement she has realised that there is no edge to Ruth as there had been with Jane and no expectation other than she wants to be the wife that Harry deserves, which is why she adds, 'if you need any help and I know I'm being cheeky, but Andrew takes his two week break at the beginning of each year and he's a dab hand with a paintbrush.'
Not wanting to turn down the offer despite knowing that the builder being there at that time means that any painting will need to be left until he has finished, 'it will a case of clearing up at the end of each day rather than do anything productive,' says Ruth, because in Marianne she can see someone she would like to be able to call a friend, with the added bonus that she is married to someone that Harry has known for almost thirty years, but more than that has no connection to their joint past or their working lives, which is why she says, 'we'd love that.'
'What would we love?' Asks Harry, whose timely re-appearance from Andrew's office where they have been finalising the paperwork suggests that he's been eaves dropping.
'I was just saying to Ruth that if you need any help with the house, that we haven't made any plans as what to we're going to do during our annual break in January,' Marianne tells him.
'And we haven't thought about what furniture we'll need or who to get to deliver it if we take mine as a stop gap,' says Harry.
Stop gap thinks Ruth who has got used to what Harry has and likes it but given that they are buying a larger house acknowledges that they will need more.
Only for Andrew to chip in and say, 'as interesting as this is my stomach's rumbling so how about we can we continue this over dinner.'
Dinner during which Ruth continues to relax, even when Harry winks at her at her after Andrew has gone into the kitchen to make coffee, which of course doesn't escape Marianne, in fact it gives her the chance to produce a photograph album containing pictures taken by Andrew's father before she and Andrew had got married but more specifically for Ruth's benefit of Harry with a shock of blond hair, a cricket bat in his hand and a huge smile on his face, suggesting he had just hit a six.
A gesture which sets the tone for the rest of the evening and as Marianne had intended allows Ruth to sit back and listen to Harry and Andrew talking about what has been a longstanding friendship, before they head home having made the decision that for the duration of the time when the builder is working at the house it makes more sense if they book two rooms at The Bell Inn.
.
'The Home Secretary's on his way in,' Jo tells Harry, as soon as he settles himself behind what for the time being is still his desk as Ruth does hers, although neither of them are thinking about anything other than moving day and the chaos before the calm, Christmas and a wedding, the date and venue still to be decided and then New Year with Andrew and Marianne, until escorted by Dimitri the Home Secretary exits the pods.
At which point, 'I'll make them,' says Beth, meaning the drinks for Harry, Ruth Jo and the HS who are heading into the meeting without Jo having to ask, because since Harry and Ruth have been away and Malcolm has gone home, Jo has been using her both as an analyst and a field officer to good effect. Enough that she knows better than to hang back and acknowledges this with a nod when Harry says, 'thank you Beth.'
Waiting until Ruth has distributed the drinks, 'I wanted to come in person to tell you that I have discovered where Blake is and I know it wasn't very inventive but on the off chance that his wife might still be in the family home and on pretext of needing to speak to her husband about some paperwork I had inherited, she willingly told me that at least until the end of the month when she is going to join him he is on his own at what she described as their country residence in Scotland. Having said that, I don't want to know how you as a collective will deal with this information, although based on Dimitri's attitude since he's been driving me around my suggestion for what it's worth is that he should be the one to dish up whatever punishment and at whatever temperature you decide when the time comes.'
'Agreed,' says Harry but not until after Ros's funeral, which sees Jo and Ruth heading back onto the grid. After which Andrew as he insists Harry calls him, tells him that in his absence they have compiled a shortlist of possible replacements which means that by the end of the week, he will accept Harry's resignation either verbally or written.
.
A funeral under any circumstances and especially one in what is a packed church proves the esteem in which Ros had been held, but the fact that there is no coffin adds to the realisation that her sacrifice was typical of the Ros that only those who had worked closely with her had known. In the same way that flowers which only Harry and Ruth know the vicar's wife Alice has chosen and arranged on behalf of her colleagues at both Five and Six, which Beth who is standing by the door has placed to one side for what will be a small and private goodbye marked by a single stone. Compounded by the small posy that Ros's mother who is sitting in the front pew label my beloved daughter forever in my heart, has handed to Harry, tearing at his heartstrings but for Ruth's sake he manages to control.
The vicar's words also all too familiar until Ruth's moment arrives. Her footsteps echoing around the church as she walks the short distance to where the lectern has been placed and in her mind is something to hang onto, telling herself that not only she can do this but will be able to resist the urge look at Harry, but needing to know that he is there she pictures the view from the room beyond their kitchen.
Taking a deep breath and without notes, 'first and foremost Ros was a daughter, so behalf of everyone here today please accept our sincere condolences Marion,' she says, then pausing for what she thinks is a respectable enough time before adding, 'as both a colleague and friend given the number of people who here today, Ros telling me some years ago that friends in her case were few, not of course that I had the courage to dispute it, proves she was wrong. But more than that and in all seriousness, surely Ros's selfless sacrifice has earned her the right to be remembered as one of our countries' greatest servants? Because as the hymn I vow to thee my country all earthly things above entire and whole and perfect the service of my love, which we are all about to sing testifies, she was that in every sense.'
Standing in the wings, a stunned Beth rather than applaud which is her first instinct is forced to look at the ceiling whilst Jo who had known how nervous Ruth had been can't believe what she's heard, or when she reclaims her place in the pew next to Harry, that she's actually managed to walk that far, unlike the bulk of the congregation who based on what Ruth has said, give a rendition of the hymn which Ros herself had chosen for Adam's funeral that metaphorically raises the roof.
After which and as the church starts to empty out, 'you go ahead,' Malcolm tells Jo, Beth and Dimitri who is approaching with the Home Secretary, knowing by the way that Harry and Ruth are looking at each other that they need a few moments on their own.
