‘Well, he was the one she wanted, but he didn’t want her, did he?’

Marianne put down her mug. ‘How did you know that?’

‘How did you know Henry gets handouts from Frank? Like you said, there are seemingly no secrets in our family, and that includes family history. I thought you were telling me one when you revealed to me nearly twenty years ago that you and my father had to get married—’

‘I didn’t put it that way.’

‘How you put it doesn’t matter. It wasn’t the disgrace in my day that it was in yours. And I knew you loved each other. What does matter is it’s something private that my mother told me and I’ve never repeated it to a soul – not even to Moira. It strikes me now, though, that all this time the whole bloody family has to have known, but carefully kept their knowledge from me!’

Martin got up and kissed Marianne’s cheek. ‘I was hurt by what you said about protecting your love affair, Mum. But I owe you an apology. I’m beginning to see what you mean.’

‘But let’s not forget the other side of the coin. When your dad died – well, the first few weeks were the worst, needless to say, and I wasn’t left to grieve on my own twenty-four hours a day. You know how I feel about Shirley, but she would sometimes turn up out of the blue – never without one of her fancy gateaux! – and I was glad to see her.

‘It was the same with Ann and Leona. I’d hear a car pull up outside the cottage and a minute later one or the other of them was walking up the path. And I was never without visitors in the evenings. Everyone rallied round me, like we’re all doing with Matthew now.’

Martin watched the driving rain lashing the window and smiled sourly. ‘If there were no redeeming features to the institution we’re discussing, it would have capsized long ago.’

‘In some families, be they Jewish or Gentile, that has begun happening,’ Marianne replied, ‘given the times we’re living in. And despite all I’ve said on the subject, I’m thankful that ours hasn’t changed, that the blood tie still means something to us and has kept us from going our separate ways.’

Chapter Eight

Bessie’s childish secrets too were destined to remain private no longer. Jake came upon her improvised diary while searching in her room for a magazine she had borrowed from Laura.

By then Nathan had proved himself to be the miracle worker Laura had wryly mentioned.

Bessie’s wanting to borrow the magazine, indicative of her renewed interest in anything other than herself, had together with other signs of her progress seemed nothing short of miraculous to her parents.