A couple of times Nick had invited Stephen into his studio. He’d begun to sculpt a bust of his head, but it hadn’t developed as he’d wanted so he’d abandoned it and done some drawings instead. Lord knew if he ever had an exhibition of his stuff, or sold anything. It wasn’t clear to Stephen what the Clarkes lived on, money-wise. It was a big place, for a teacher: huge, if you included the outbuildings and the land. They called it the farm, but it wasn’t a proper farm: they certainly didn’t live off the land or what they grew on it. Neither of the girls had holiday jobs and apart from gardening Celia just seemed to float around. Their cars weren’t new and they didn’t seem to go out to fancy restaurants or anything; if there even were any fancy restaurants in this part of the world. But even so: four people living a life of leisure on a teacher’s salary just didn’t add up. Stephen asked Helena about it, one night when they were lying in his bed. They never spoke before they made love, too hungry for each other’s bodies to waste time on words. But afterwards they often stayed up late, talking in whispers, even though they didn’t need to. There was no one else on the top floor of the house to overhear them, but their hushed voices gave them a feeling of delicious complicity.

‘Celia’s the one with the money,’ said Helena. ‘Or what’s left of it. Georgie told me that Celia had thought there’d be more; when her mother, the girls’ granny, died there turned out to be less of a legacy than she’d been expecting. Old money always runs out, that’s what my mother says. Celia’s grandfather was a lord, or something. That’s where the posh furniture comes from. And the china. You know, those plates with gold rims and crests and stuff.’

Stephen had never heard his mother or father mention any lords, so he supposed this must be on the other side of Celia’s family, nothing to do with the Nolans.

‘Was this house his place, then?’

‘No, she and Nick bought it when they were first married. There was some sort of trust that Celia got on her marriage. They’ll tell you, if you ask: they’re proud of what a bargain it was. It’s a long way from anywhere, down here. If it was in Surrey or somewhere it would’ve cost them a fortune.’

‘So how come Nick works, if they’re loaded?’