‘I used to know a card trick,’ said the reverend. ‘All the queens came out on top.’

‘Hey, we could have a magic show on Granny’s birthday,’ said Larry. ‘What do you think, El?’

‘Balloons,’ she said, watching Alec’s hands like a cat.

‘Quite right,’ said Osbourne. ‘Can’t have a party without balloons.’

Alec was shuffling the order of the cups. There was a certain amount of patter involved. Larry stepped up to the table. ‘She’ll get it this time,’ he said.

The cups were lined up in their final positions. Ella immediately tapped the left-hand cup. Alec lifted it.

‘Clever girl,’ said Osbourne. ‘Clever girl.’

Before the trick could begin again, they heard a car on the gravel of the drive. They froze for a moment, then filed from the room and came out of the front door just as Una was switching off the engine. Though the rain was very light, Alec had taken the big golf umbrella from the hall and was holding it over Larry and Ella’s heads. The reverend stood at the back, still holding the peonies. Una got out of the car. Larry let go of Ella’s hand and went around to the passenger door. He opened it and reached down for Alice, and though the moment before she had seemed almost inert, an elderly lady lost in the midst of some sad reverie, she was suddenly animated, gripping his arms and hauling herself from the seat. ‘Oh, Larry,’ she moaned, ‘oh, my Larry...’

She clung to him, the material of his shirt bunched in her fists, and he held her, eyes closed, whispering to her, crooning to her like a sweetheart, while the others, awed by so much undisguised need, looked on, not daring to disturb them. After a minute, Ella edged towards her father and threaded a finger through a belt loop on his trousers. Larry freed one of his hands and pressed the child against his thigh. Osbourne whispered something canonical. Una smiled at Alec, her mouth unsteady. To Alec the scene was the most profoundly embarrassing he thought he had ever witnessed, and he stared fixedly at the gravel, afraid he would make some shocking noise, a bark of grief.

‘Can we go in now?’ he asked. But nobody moved, and it seemed they would be there for ever, stupefied by emotion.