‘What are you, anyway?’ she yelled at him, her voice full of loathing. ‘You’re just someone he uses to live out his double life. His bit on the side. I suppose he pays you, too. Stay away from me, and don’t come near me ever again. D’you hear me, you little shit?’

He stood stock still for a moment and she saw that he had come out without a coat and that he was soaking, his clothes hanging sodden from his drooping shoulders.

‘I know your mother’s dying,’ he said desperately. ‘He wants to spend these last months with the two of you. Because he wants her to end her life loved by both of you. What’s the matter with you, that you can’t grasp that? Are you so heartless, so bloody righteous and bigoted, that you can’t even accept that simple idea? Why won’t you give them a few weeks together, instead of forcing them apart? Haven’t they got enough grief, without you putting your spanner in the works?’

Camilla saw another taxi at the far end of the street and lifted her arm to flag it down. As she leapt out into the middle of the road she missed her footing on the edge of the pavement and fell heavily, losing her shoe. Her handbag flew into the gutter and she felt a sickening pain in her right foot as she tried to get up and retrieve the purse that held her keys and her taxi fare. He was there ahead of her, picking up her scattered belongings, helping her into the taxi, climbing in beside her. He gave the driver the address and they sat in silence, with the rain thrumming on the roof of the cab. The stuffy heater made Camilla cough. She turned away from him, spluttering and choking, furious that he had dared to mention her parents’ home address, remembering her first sight of him in her father’s bedroom. When they reached the flat he helped her out and up the steps to the entrance, his fingers on her arm like a steel vice.

‘My name’s Giles Hannington,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry I’ve upset you. Believe me, I am. I know it’s hard for you to come to terms with this, and you don’t have to see me again. But I hope what I’ve said will make some impression on you, before it’s too late. Goodnight.’