‘Since you didn’t ask me, I didn’t tell you, Mum, that Carla’s being an only child was my decision and Frank went along with it. Our neighbourhood law practice seemed more important than increasing our family and it needed both of us.’ Leona smiled wryly. ‘Twenty years ago we were imbued with an idealism it’s been hard to sustain.’

‘And how you can go on working in that district – with what Moss Side now is!’ said Rebecca. ‘Have there been any repetitions of Frank getting punched up?’

‘That sort of thing goes with the territory and, believe it or not, makes our work the more rewarding. Our reputation is such that we’re preferred to black lawyers, and that’s rare in the current climate. As for what Moss Side now is – well, it’s just a different kind of ghetto from the one the Sandbergs sprang from.’

‘Hardly, darling!’

‘What do you mean, “hardly”? For those Jews prepared to admit it, it’s a parallel situation, including the poverty and the humiliation. The blacks are struggling for acceptance just like we had to. Uncle David once told me he used to get stones thrown at him on his way home from school, when the family lived in Strangeways, and in a house you and I would call a hovel, may I remind you. He also said he once took Laura to see it, to take her down a peg or two. It’s a pity he didn’t give Shirley the same treatment!’

‘Thankfully, those days are over,’ said Rebecca while applying Ambre Solaire to her gleaming shoulders.

‘But they’re not for the blacks and Asians,’ Leona replied, covering her ankles with a towel. It was far too hot to wear socks. ‘Even for those who’ve achieved material and educational equality,’ she went on, ‘the real struggle is still going on. And by the way, Mum, when are you coming home?’

‘I was wondering when you’d get around to asking.’

Again something had gone unsaid: It was why you came, wasn’t it?

Since directness between herself and her mother was on a personal level no more possible now than it had ever been, Leona kept her tone light and answered, ‘We’ve barely had a minute alone, have we? What with all the socializing!’

Only by pleading a headache had Leona escaped yet another luncheon party given by one of the wealthy widows with whom her aunt passed the time.

All of whom were on the lookout for a man, Leona reflected, casting her mind back to the party given by Auntie Ray’s best friend in a poolside setting similar to that in which Leona and her mum were now lounging…

Exotic described it. Palm trees and luxuriant bushes, the tiles surrounding the pool, as on the patio, pastel pink, the water a mirror for the brilliant Florida sky, and a buffet resplendent with salads as colourful as the ambience.