This was not going at all as Pip had imagined her first meeting with Evelyn. She wanted to listen to Evelyn talk, not the other way around, and yet somehow the tables had been turned. Was this a game of tit for tat, Pip wondered – I’ll tell you my dubious and dark backstory, but only if you tell me yours first? Maybe opening herself up to Evelyn was the price she was going to have to pay.

Quickly, Pip ran through her options. She could refuse to answer, and subtly shift the conversation on to safer ground. Or she could lie, either making something up or telling a more palatable version of her story. But if she did that and watered down her own history to something bland and safe, then how could she expect Evelyn to be open and honest in return?

She should just tell her the truth, even though her reasons for changing her Christian name were starting to make her uncomfortable. Before the accident, when she had been totally caught up in her London life with her rich friends, she had never given it a second’s thought. It was only now, now that she was back at home and had time to consider her actions, that she could see the impact of what she had done. And it made her feel ashamed. But if she wanted to learn anything about Evelyn, then she was clearly going to have to give her something to start the ball rolling.

‘I grew up on a farm just outside the town,’ she began. ‘My parents are lovely, but their aspirations were limited to making a living on the land. So when I said I wanted to go to university and be a barrister they were pleased as punch, but they didn’t really understand why I wanted something so different to them. They tried to support me, but it was always on their terms. If I wanted to go up to London to see an exhibition that might help with my studies, they’d complain about the cost or worry that I wouldn’t be at the farm to do my share of the chores. They didn’t make my life difficult as such. They just didn’t get it.’

Pip searched Evelyn’s face for any clue that she understood. Hadn’t it been the same for Evelyn growing up in this house, wanting to break free from her family’s expectations? She thought she saw a glimmer of comprehension in Evelyn’s eyes, but she couldn’t be certain. Evelyn was hard to read, far harder than Pip had anticipated. She pressed on.