‘I swear it.’ Adam’s face was drained of colour but his voice was steady. ‘Get Olive in here and I’ll repeat it in front of her. She was intent on doing the dirty on Ruby and she used me to do it.’

George sighed a long, heavy sigh, the significance of which was not lost on his wife.

Cissy scrubbed at her eyes with a handkerchief as she said, ‘You don’t believe him, do you? Olive wouldn’t do that.’

George loved his wife. He always had. From the first time he had set eyes on Cissy one balmy Sunday afternoon when he and a group of his pals from the steelworks had been taking a walk Southwick way, and had come across Cissy and a couple of her friends, he had known she was the one for him. But his love didn’t blind him to the fact that she saw only what she wanted to see, particularly in those she loved. He had recognized long ago that his elder daughter was jealous of the younger, and also that Cissy compensated for the marked difference in their appearances by favouring Olive to a degree that had bordered on the absurd at times. He had tried to talk to her about it on a number of occasions but to no avail.

Now, because of his love for Cissy, his voice was soft but it also carried a remnant of the tone he had used to check her when she was about to slap Adam, as he said, ‘You ask me if I believe that Olive is capable of what Adam’s alleged? Absolutely. And do I think he has spoken the truth about what happened that night? Again, aye, I do. For years her resentment of Ruby has been like a poison in this house and if you can’t accept that now, after this, then I am sorry for you, lass.’ He lifted his hand as Cissy went to speak. ‘Hear me out. I love the pair of them – they’re my flesh and blood and all we’ve got left – but if we are to survive this, it’s time you stopped burying your head in the sand.’

He turned to Adam, and bluntly now, said, ‘Are you prepared to give Olive your name?’

‘I’ve no other choice, have I.’ It was bitter.

George nodded slowly. Looking at Cissy, he said, ‘Get her down here.’

‘You know she won’t come out of her room.’

‘Tell her if she’s not down here within a minute I’ll come up and drag her down.’

Cissy opened her mouth to protest, took in the expression that made George almost into a stranger, and shut it again.