‘I haven’t told Lorna. I’ve told Giles the result, though I know I should have asked him first before getting it done. He had every right to be cross with me for not telling him sooner,’ she admitted. ‘But actually I think it was a relief to him because he was as certain about it as I was from the moment we clapped eyes on Rory. We both needed confirmation – it could be important. When we first heard Lorna was pregnant, Giles went to see her to tackle her about it, because . . .’ Isobel paused and said painfully, ‘because we knew from the dates that it had to be a possibility that the baby might be his. I can’t tell you how difficult I found that. I was convinced that Lorna would make all the capital she could out of the situation just when we’d got our marriage back on track, but then, astonishingly, she denied to Giles that the baby was his. And then, to our huge relief, she went back to South Africa. I don’t think we were either of us really convinced by what she said,’ she added honestly, ‘but it suited us to go along with it. When we heard from my parents that the baby had arrived, very early for the dates, we let ourselves accept the story Lorna put out, and hoped that he could – just conceivably – be the child of her first husband before she’d come back to Scotland. It’s amazing,’ she added ironically, ‘what you can make yourself swallow if you want to believe something badly enough.’

‘And now?’

‘Now Lorna’s sent for Rory to go back to her. And instead of feeling relieved, I’m miserable. It was awful. He’s clearly terrified of her and he begged to stay with us. Shocking really, and you won’t believe this, Evie – I can hardly believe it myself – but after being so upset to think he was Giles’s son and not mine, when it came to it I could hardly bear to let him go. What a mess! Five years ago Lorna nearly succeeds in wrecking our marriage. Then against all the odds she takes herself off the scene. Now it seems she’s back in trouble-making mode again, though I don’t know what she’s after this time, but it suddenly occurred to me the other day that this had all started up again since Pa’s death and there had to be a connection. You and Pa were always very close and Lorna is your goddaughter . . . am I right in thinking he told you something?’