Ben half smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I guess we all have to atone for our sins somehow.” He laughed, but the sound was thin and reedy.

“I can’t imagine you having any sins to atone for.”

“Don’t you believe it. We’ve all got skeletons in our closet, haven’t we?”

Audrey turned around and bent down to pick up a discarded chocolate wrapper from the floor, and felt a pain pull across her chest. She breathed deeply against it but it continued to slice between her ribs, a lightning flash of heat every time she inhaled. Clamping her jaw shut, her back teeth grinding, she forced herself upright. As she stood up, her head felt fuzzy and light, as though it might just roll away. She grabbed the lid of the piano, reminding herself that this was to be expected, that there was nothing to be alarmed about, that it would pass as long as she didn’t panic.

She waited a few seconds until her body was vaguely under control, and when she turned back to Ben she saw that he was sorting through folders of music balanced on the piano stool and was relieved he hadn’t noticed. During their car journeys over the past few weeks, Audrey had told Ben many things about her life, but never that she was ill. She hadn’t felt he needed to know, hadn’t wanted to see the look of sympathy, surprise or pity in his eyes when she said the words out loud.

Now, looking at him, she realized that Ben had told her next to nothing about himself. Recalling their conversations, she was sure she’d asked about his life outside the choir but, now she came to think of it, she couldn’t remember him ever giving her any answers.

“So what are you up to tonight, Ben? Anything special?” Audrey leaned against the piano, her head still woozy.

“Nothing much. Just a good book and a decent glass of red wine. I’m afraid my Saturday night partying days were over a long time ago.”

He smiled but Audrey caught a flicker of hesitation.

“Do you not have any family? No Mrs. Levine? No children of your own?”

“I do, actually, yes. Two kids, Zach and Erin.”

A stiffness in Ben’s tone made Audrey glance up. She saw something in his expression she thought she recognized though she couldn’t identify what it was. “They’re beautiful names. Do they like living in London or would they rather be in America?”

Ben began shuffling pieces of paper he’d already tidied just a few moments before. “Erin’s back home in New York, with my wife. My ex-wife. I’m divorced. I haven’t seen them in a while.”

The shuffling continued, Ben removing song sheets from plastic folders before slipping them back in again.

“I’m really sorry to hear that. It must be very difficult, for all of you. And what about your son? Is he here with you?”

There was a heavy silence in which Audrey sensed she had asked a question Ben didn’t want to answer.