Mum slapped him lightly on the arm. ‘Put your testosterone away.’ She reached across the table and held her hand palm up for me to hold. ‘Are you okay?’

I squeezed. ‘I’m sad.’ Another breath. ‘But I know that’s allowed.’

‘Of course, sweetheart, of course it’s allowed. Do you want to talk about it?’ She must have clocked Dad open his mouth because she rushed to add, ‘You don’t have to, because it’s actually none of our business, really.’ She looked at me while she said it, but I got the distinct feeling she was talking to Dad. ‘But we’re here for whatever you need.’

‘Of course,’ Dad chimed in. ‘Of course.’

During one of many phone calls with Lily, Betty, Cora … I’d asked them what they thought I should tell my parents. They said, in the way they always said it, that I should share what I was comfortable with and nothing more. I drew the line at admitting to an exploration of latent sexual preferences then, but I did opt for a partial truth. I didn’t tell them about Fred, although I did admit to seeing someone else; meanwhile, Rowan saw more than a few someones. ‘But that was part of the agreement,’ I rushed to add before Dad could explode with rage. ‘It was part of the agreement and it was, absolutely, what we both signed up for.’

‘I’m so surprised, Edith, that you’d agree to something like that.’ He dropped back hard in his chair and I felt a wave of disappointment hit me from across the table.

‘Why?’ Mum asked. But when I looked up to answer I realised she wasn’t talking to me.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, why are you surprised she’d do it? Wouldn’t you have done?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Oh, don’t take that tone with me. I’m wife enough and woman enough to know there are times when you’ve thought of other women, just like I’ve thought of other men. Neither of us have acted on it.’ She took a deliberate pause there and waited for Dad to nod in agreement. I couldn’t help but smile. ‘But not everyone falls in love, gets married and rides off into the sunset. Christ, they didn’t half manage it when we were kids, never mind managing it with how hard life is now.’

Dad looked to put some real thought into what she’d said before he answered. ‘I see.’

‘This other chap.’ Mum turned back to me. ‘The one you’ve been seeing?’ I couldn’t bring myself to correct her; one explosive at a time seemed about enough. I only nodded. ‘Are you leaving Rowan for him?’