‘Balderdash!’ Never before had Max had spoken to her in such a way and he made no apology for it. ‘Absolute poppycock!’ He strode across the room, coming to a halt in front of her, a pulse pounding at the corner of his jaw line. ‘You’re our parents and you love each other and you’re married and that’s all there is to it. If the two of you have had some sort of a quarrel while you’ve been here, then I’m sorry. But talking of divorce is overdramatic and ridiculous.’

As she remained silent, wondering how best to respond to him, Nancy said perceptively, ‘Is it because Papa won’t live in Yorkshire? Is that why you want to divorce him?’

‘No, Nancy. That might have been the cause if we had divorced many years ago, when we should have done, but it isn’t the cause now.’

‘Then what is?’ Max was as taut as a coiled spring. ‘If you’re going to say that Pa loves another woman then I don’t believe you. Pa couldn’t be a womanizer if he tried.’

Aware of the unwitting irony in his last remark, Vicky said, ‘It isn’t that Pa loves another woman, Max. It’s that I love another man.’

Max came to an abrupt halt.

Hugo made a small, agonized sound.

Nancy’s jaw dropped.

‘It’s quite reasonable that I should do so,’ she continued, not daring to stop now the truth was so nearly out in the open. ‘Your father and I haven’t lived together as a married couple for seventeen years and for a long time now I’ve been in love with someone else—someone who loves me as I love him. And your father and I are divorcing so that I can marry this…other person.’

Max stared at her, stunned.

Hugo looked sick.

Nancy looked interested.

‘Christ!’ Max made a sudden, uncertain movement, like a vertigo sufferer who sees the world tilt crazily before his eyes and can only pray for the dizziness to pass. ‘And when are you going to introduce us to this…this person, Mother?’

‘I don’t need to introduce you, Max. You already know him.’ Suddenly, her voice was steady and she felt completely calm. ‘It’s Adam,’ she said simply. ‘Adam Priestley.’

The blood drained from Max’s face.

Hugo struggled to his feet, knocking the chair over as he did so. ‘I don’t believe it.’ His voice was raw. ‘I refuse to believe it. And if all this…this stuff…has been going on for such a long time, why do you have to marry him now? Why can’t you just continue as…as you have been doing?’ The words choked in his throat.

‘Because I’ve always wanted to marry him. And he’s always wanted to marry me—and because I’m having a baby.’

No one moved. No one spoke.

At last, Max said unsteadily, ‘I can’t deal with this. I can’t cope with it.’ Looking like death, he turned away from her and made a beeline for the door.

As it slammed behind him, Hugo said, ‘I feel ill. I think I’m going to be sick.’