The father nodded in sad agreement. Outside, the traffic rumbled past, and Molly thought that Muriel could not have been an easy woman to live with. Perhaps her husband’s cold autocracy was his only means of survival.

Muriel Franks turned back to George. “If you were to go and see Greg and ask him, he’d come back. I’m sure he would.”

George looked helplessly at Molly. Mrs. Franks’ determination to keep her son at home was unnatural, he thought. Greg was in his early twenties, no longer a child. She was balanced precariously between elation and depression. He was frightened of saying something which would tip her into some kind of breakdown. Throughout the exchange Dennis Franks looked on anxiously. Occasionally he reached out towards his wife, as if he was going to pat her hand to calm her, but he seemed almost frightened of touching her. He stared at George without giving any indication of what he wanted the man to say.

“I don’t know that I could be so persuasive,” George said at last.

“You could!” Muriel cried. “Tell him that if we decide to sell the business, a share of the profit would be his. Of course all our money will go to him in the end, but we could make something available to him now. But we need him here to discuss it.”

Molly thought that the purchase of her son’s affection was a strategy she must have tried before. Molly and George looked at one another, each hoping the other would have the courage to disappoint the woman. There was a strained silence, which Muriel Franks took suddenly and irrationally as consent to her plans. She leapt to her feet, her face flushed with triumph.

“I knew I could make you understand if you came here and met us,” she said. “You don’t know what this means to me. I don’t think I could carry on without the hope that I might see Greg again soon.”

Then George knew that the decision had been made for him, and that he would find it impossible to refuse the work. Dennis Franks looked on with silent bewilderment and pain.

Muriel remained standing, as if she expected them to leave at once to find her son. She had expected immediate and dramatic action. Molly looked at her with concern.

“We’ll need to know a little more about Gregory,” she said. “When did he first leave home?”

Perhaps they could help, she thought, just by allowing the woman to talk about her son. Perhaps that was more important than persuading Greg that he should show her a little consideration by visiting her occasionally and letting her know where he was staying.

Muriel returned reluctantly to her seat. “ I don’t know,” she said. “Not exactly. About twelve months ago. He’s phoned since then, but he’s not been back to stay.”