That night, when the time comes, Tom asks Jack to put him to bed. Jack mirrors Gwen’s surprise. He looks to her for permission.

‘Why don’t we both take you up, Tom?’ she says, finding her voice.

Nora waits on the landing for the three of them to ascend. She is going out, her face made up, a cloud of perfume enveloping her. She calls ‘Goodnight’ as she thunders downwards. From upstairs they hear the back door slam.

Gwen readies Tom for bed, while Jack hovers near the door. The little boy is unabashed by the novel arrangement and pulls away from Gwen to show Jack a painting he has done, a blue eggshell he found under the apple tree, his collection of acorns. He races around his room, thrusting things into Jack’s hands, seeking his approval, his admiration, before Gwen catches him and drags him back to unbutton his shirt or tie his pyjama bottoms. But the moment her hands leave him he dashes away again to collect some other treasure from the windowsill or the mantelpiece, or he is scrabbling under his bed for the old shoe box that contains his prized collection of feathers.

Finally, adopting a stern tone, Gwen ushers him under the covers and picks up his book from the bedside table. Tom springs back up and begs Jack to read to him. She can feel the warmth emanating from Jack’s body as he takes the book from her hand. She steps away as he sinks down onto the edge of Tom’s bed. The boy lies back, his head nestled into his pillow, his little fingers gripping the coverlet resting on his chest.

Jack begins to read, hesitantly at first, as if embarrassed to have an audience, but as Gwen falls back to the door, he appears to grow in confidence, slipping into different voices for the characters. She finds herself smiling as he reveals a talent she had not anticipated. The boy giggles. When the story is finished and Jack has delivered the final line with suitable aplomb, Tom squirms onto his side and pleads for one more. Jack turns to look at Gwen. She concedes with a smile.

She withdraws onto the landing and stands in the faint glow that slants across the runner from Tom’s open doorway. She continues to listen for a moment before padding softly into her own room.