He acknowledged, bitterly, that he was jealous of Eileen’s boys, two little motherless boys. He was. Because today he had decided to take Briony back, and had found that she had even less need of him than before. It was ironic that after leaving her, after convincing himself he was better off without her, he had found out too late just how wrong he had been.

He felt a burning need to cry because he had just left behind the only woman he would ever care about, the only one he would ever want or need.

It was this knowledge that hurt him more than anything. Because he, himself, had broken the bond between them, and enjoyed himself while doing it. He had broken Briony’s heart and all along had been setting himself up for more misery than he had dreamt possible.

Briony had her sisters and those children. Now he was the one left with nothing. Because he wanted nothing else, and so nothing else would do.

She probably didn’t even realise he was gone.

St Vincent’s church was once more packed out. The new priest, Father Tierney, looked over the sea of faces and smiled. It did his heart good to see so many people here, men as well as women. It was the christening of the Cavanagh boys, as they were being called already. The highlight of the christening was seeing the film star Jonathan la Billière stand as their godfather, with Kerry as godmother to Daniel and Bernadette to Dennis. As he poured the holy water over the boys’ heads they both set up a wail that could be heard outside the church. Briony and Bernadette quietened the boys as Kerry sang. The church was hushed as her voice came out low and sweet:

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home...

Everyone stood in silence as she sang. More than a few people would remark on the strangeness of the song and the way she sang it. And more than a few would also remark later behind closed doors on the dark-haired little girl who had sat up bright-eyed and alert as she viewed the proceedings from Cissy Jackson’s lap! She was darker than was natural, everyone tacitly agreed, but no one said it anywhere near the Cavanaghs.

Briony smiled at Jonathan and he grinned back. He was more than grateful to her for sorting out the business with Peter and Rupert. He had made a special journey back from America for this christening and the stir it had caused had been worth every mile of the journey. On that dreadful morning he had believed his whole career was over. When Briony, despite all her own troubles, had told him that it was sorted out, he had felt a deep, abiding thankfulness. He would do anything for her now. Anything.