There was silence as this penetrated Matt’s mind; then he erupted. ‘That bloody woman! I’ll kill her. It’s a pack of lies, Jen. I swear she’s trying to make trouble between us. I’ve rejected her and she’s obviously trying to get her own back by breaking us up. If she is pregnant, it’s nothing to do with me. I’ve never touched her – or wanted to.’

‘But if that’s true –’

‘It is!’ Matt gazed at Jenny’s strained, unhappy face, and felt his future with her slipping away. She had been told so many lies in the last two years that it must be hard for her to know what was the truth. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the bed. ‘Come on, we’re going to sort this out right now.’

She tried to pull away.

‘You believed Gloria, so you’re accusing me of playing games with your affections. Well, I’m not going to have my integrity questioned in this way. We’re going to face her together, and if you still want to go to America then, I’ll put you on the boat myself.’

He pushed Fred out of the way and started down the stairs, making Jenny go before him.

The Tremains lived in Kensington and in a house not nearly as grand as Jenny had imagined from the girl’s airs and graces. She now had grave doubts that Gloria had been telling the truth, which made her even unhappier. Matt wasn’t going to stand for this – she had lost him for sure. He was furious, and if he had been going to marry Gloria, then he would just have shrugged it off and walked away. But that would have been very callous, which didn’t fit with his character at all. She should have faced him before deciding to run away again. But she had acted in panic because it had hurt so much.

‘Matthew –’

‘Don’t, Jen!’ Matt was grim-faced as he led her to the front door. ‘Let’s get this cleared up; then we’ll talk.’

Mrs Tremain opened the door. ‘Hello, Matthew.’

‘We’ve come to see Gloria. Is she in?’ Matt gripped Jenny’s hand tightly, making sure she didn’t run away.

‘Yes, she is. Please come in.’

Gloria and her father were in the sitting room reading when they came in. She looked up and a moment of uncertainty flashed in her eyes – then it was gone.

Matt stood in front of her, furious and still holding tightly to Jenny’s hand. ‘That was a nasty trick you played on Jen.’

‘Who is Jen?’

‘You know who I’m talking about, Gloria. Now we will have the truth. Are you and I engaged to be married?’

Gloria gave her parents a nervous glance, then shook her head.

‘Say it,’ Matt demanded.

‘No, we are not!’