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‘More’s the pity, Tom,’ Emily said. ‘Tell us how we can make amends,’ she offered.

‘I want to find the man who fathered me,’ he said. It came out baldly but there was no easy way to make his request.

‘Whatever for?’ Mrs Darnell said, her tone critical.

‘Now, now, Elizabeth. It’s a simple enough request,’ Giles cautioned. ‘And that’s all you want . . . er, Tom?’

‘That’s all I came for,’ he confirmed. ‘I want nothing else from you.’

‘Would you be prepared to put that in writing, per—’

‘Father!’ Emily admonished. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. If Tom says that’s all he wants, then please do not make him prove anything. Furthermore, don’t humiliate me any further in front of him. Forgive us, Tom.’

‘You’re forgiven, Emily . . .’ He left the rest unsaid.

‘Right, well. Elizabeth, do you have . . . um . . .?’

‘No, I don’t. You know I don’t. I can’t even remember his name, Giles – can you?’

Giles shook his head forlornly. ‘Bill? Or was it Hugh?’

Tom searched their faces for guile, pleading inwardly for them to remember. But he found no pretence; they genuinely couldn’t recall.

‘I met him,’ Emily declared. ‘And I have a very good memory.’

‘What?’ Her mother swung around.

‘He came to the house to see Aunt Moira, as you well know. I was only about five or six at the time. Nasty Miss Jackson tried to send him packing on your instructions, Mother, or did you forget that?’

‘I have forgotten that,’ Elizabeth admitted, although Tom sensed she was lying. ‘I spoke to him for about two minutes, Tom,’ she reiterated defensively, as though she knew he saw through her.

‘Where was my mother?’ Tom asked.

‘Locked up,’ Emily said. ‘My grandmother took all her clothes and locked her in her room for days. We weren’t living in this house; we were still at College Town, but we were staying here while some building work was being done at our home in Harrow Road. I clearly remember all the screaming and crying . . . so many arguments through that bedroom door. Grandpa was very upset about it all and never agreed with how Aunt Moira was treated. My memory of it is vivid, Mother. I can’t lose recollection of it, much as perhaps you’d like me to.’

‘Really, Emily, do you feel clever stirring all this up?’

‘I’m sorry, Tom,’ Emily said, before addressing her parents. ‘I’m simply giving Tom the truth. This is all water under the bridge. We can’t change anything. But he has a right to know; he’s trying to find the man who fathered him, for heaven’s sake. I’d want to know if Father didn’t actually—’

‘Right, that’s quite enough, Emily,’ Elizabeth broke in. ‘I swear it’s that university giving you such independent thinking.’

Emily cut Tom another amused look. ‘Wicked to think for myself, isn’t it, Mother?’

‘You’ll never get a husband carrying on like that,’ Elizabeth warned.

Now Emily laughed and she became prettier for it, Tom noted. ‘If I decide to marry, Mother, I’ll choose him when I’m ready.’

‘Are you listening to this, Giles? She sounds like Moira all over again.’

‘Just a lot older,’ her father said and Tom suspected it was an old family argument that their daughter was still a spinster.

Emily wouldn’t back down. ‘I did always admire Aunt Moira’s spiritedness. She lived life on her terms.’

‘Like a beggar!’ Elizabeth spat.

‘No, she didn’t,’ Tom interrupted. ‘My mother lived a hard life – there’s no denying that – but I shared it with her, and I have to say it was a happy one. She loved the man who raised me and he loved her with every ounce of himself. He would have given her the world if he could.’

‘Except he couldn’t. He was poor,’ Elizabeth scoffed.