‘We did everything together, you see. It sounds a little fey, but we were truly soulmates. It was quite a shock to find myself flying solo again after twenty years with a co-pilot. I moped about for a bit feeling sorry for myself, but that wasn’t what Jocelyn would have wanted. We were always having adventures together, so I decided to try a few on my own. The Pilates was perhaps a little too adventurous – I don’t think I’m designed to be that bendy. The watercolour class was much more enjoyable, but sadly populated with several somewhat predatory widows, one of whom took rather a fancy to me and kept bringing me homemade fruit cakes and inviting me out to lunch. I can’t abide fruitcake – the mixed peel always gets stuck between my teeth. Eventually I decided to return to my first love – the piano. And here I am.’

Billie had already missed one train and was about to miss another, but she didn’t care. Henry Hayward was worth it. He just made her smile.

‘And what about you, young woman? What are you doing here in the blessed Betjeman’s opus magnum? Arriving, departing or simply hanging around hoping to meet debonair musicians?’

Billie laughed but it caught like a fishbone in the back of her throat. Henry reached over and for the briefest of moments placed his hand over hers.

‘Why the tears, my dear?’ he asked with unbearable kindness.

She bit the inside of her lip hard enough to draw blood, determined not to cry again, but found herself unable to contain the barrage of emotions that had confounded her since the day she had read her dad’s letter. She told Henry Hayward everything. A man that she had only just met – little more than a complete stranger. She told him all the things that she had tried to share with her friends but had so far failed, for reasons she had yet to fathom. She told Henry that she was a modern-day foundling. She had been to the Foundling Museum and found nothing that had helped.

Henry’s response was unexpected.

‘How exciting! You’re a woman of mystery! It sounds as though you might be about to embark on an adventure of your own.’

There was not a trace of pity nor patronage in his voice, but he was anxious to reassure her that he was not insensitive to her feelings.

‘I know it must have knocked the wind out of your sails, but now you have an opportunity to set a completely new course. Your childhood was happy, your parents loved you and you loved them. That was the past and none of that will change. But the important thing now is what will you do with your future?’

Henry checked his watch and drained the last of his tea.