Her last thought as she was falling asleep was that she had a sister, well, a half-sister. That idea felt so strange.

There would be another layer to the meeting because of that and she didn’t know what to expect. She’d always wished she had relatives, and now that two had turned up out of the blue, let’s face it, she was utterly terrified of meeting them.

Terrified of being scorned.

For the first time she truly understood her mother’s fear of anyone and everyone, and vowed to be kinder to her in future.

When she got home, Hope hesitated. Should she ring Adam now? Would he be in bed?

But the meeting with Janey had gone better than she’d expected and she suddenly felt she could face phoning him.

He answered the phone almost immediately.

‘Adam?’

‘Hope. I’m so glad you rang. Is everything all right?’

‘Yes. I just, um, came back from telling Janey about you.’

‘Good. How did she react?’

‘She was afraid.’

He didn’t answer straight away and when he did his voice was harsh. ‘Of me? How could she be? She’s never met me.’

‘Afraid of you scorning her, because of Millie.’

‘I wouldn’t do that.’

‘I told her so.’

‘You did?’

Hope nodded, then realised he couldn’t see her. ‘Yes. You never were the sort of person to scorn others and you don’t sound to have changed.’

‘Thank you for that.’

‘Can I meet you tomorrow, Adam? I have some photos of Janey and Millie and we should talk.’

‘That would be wonderful.’

She hesitated. ‘I’ve changed. I’m going grey and I’ve turned into a mousy sort of person.’

His voice grew gentler. ‘I won’t scorn you, either, Hope.’

Silence hung between them and she couldn’t think how to answer, was glad when he spoke.

‘Shall I pick you up somewhere? I’ve hired a car.’

‘We could meet at the Riviera Café in Sexton Bassett. I can walk there quite easily. Just you and me this time, don’t you think? Not our daughters.’

‘Fine by me. What time?’

‘Ten o’clock?’

‘Excellent.’

She switched off the phone and put it down carefully, staring at it for a long time.

She’d done it now.

And though she was afraid – well who wouldn’t be in her situation? – she didn’t feel as bad as she’d expected about meeting him. Maybe her driver tonight had been right. Maybe she was now on her way to a normal life, one painful step at a time.

She’d be careful, though, check him out carefully before she introduced him to Janey and Millie.

She didn’t sleep well, but she didn’t mind, for once. She felt to be living up to her new name and finding hope in the world again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

In the morning Nell and Angus got ready to meet the people from the council. Their own engineer arrived at the big house first, so that they could fill him in on the background. Sam Thompson was an older man, with a thin, intelligent face.