Ricky breathed deeply, and looked down at their loosely intertwined hands - his own hand seemed so feeble next to Shona’s golden, glowing skin, with her long fingers and unvarnished, oval nails. He had little doubt that Shona knew; perhaps she was expecting him to confess, after all. For a moment it was tempting. It would be so easy, it would just take a few seconds of weakness, of unblinkered honesty. Naked under his gown, he would become as clean and fresh as a newborn baby, reborn in his new life. Ricky let go of his daughter’s hand and smoothed down the sheet; yes, the confession would be easy, but it was the aftermath that would be unthinkable. He would lose everything he had built - his false life in Bangladesh that kept Henna in such respectable comfort, that kept his mother at such disapproving distance; his new life with his wonderful wife and daughter. He could imagine the hurt in Verity’s eyes, even more painful than the tears she had bravely tried to hide as she had visited him that day; betrayed yet again, by the one man who had promised he never would. To be told that their marriage was an illegal sham. She would never understand. Ricky made a decision: she would never need to.

‘Jaan,’ he said gently to Shona. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

‘Yes, Papa,’ Shona said encouragingly, leaning forward, reaching for his hand once more.

‘I’m afraid I’ve misled you about something. I know that you thought I would still be in Dhaka today, but as you can see I decided to return a little bit earlier. I had something to do.’ Shona nodded, wondering where this was going. Ricky put his hand on Shona’s cheek, picking his words carefully. ‘You remember the flat in Clapham, the one that I used to stay in when I was in town … ?’ Shona’s eyes widened as she realized what he was going to say. Ricky confirmed, ‘I went there this afternoon, I thought I had better check on it, I hadn’t been there in a long time, as you know.’

Shona swallowed uncomfortably, before asking, ‘And was everything OK, Papa?’

Ricky replied, as gently as he could, ‘Jaan, everything wasn’t OK. I saw something that I wasn’t meant to see, and it almost broke my heart.’

Shona looked at the bleeping heart monitor, and back to her pale father, and understood. ‘Is that what gave you the heart attack, Papa?’