‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound insensitive. It must be awful.’ Steph went to say more but changed her mind. She wanted to know so much more about his life here before Elizabeth had died, but at the same time she didn’t want to hurt him by digging up painful memories. It wasn’t exactly the mark of a good reporter, she acknowledged, but her conscience prevailed.

Harry hadn’t missed her hesitation. He put the mugs down on the coffee table. ‘What were you going to say?’

She thought of Sonia and the pleading look in her eyes. She thought of Elizabeth – there was so much more to know. She reached out for his hand. ‘Do you miss … do you miss what you had before?’

‘Elizabeth?’

‘Was it a happy marriage?’

‘You’re quite direct when you want to be. Is this the reporter in you?’

‘No. It’s the woman in me.’

His thumb stroked her knuckles. ‘Elizabeth and I were very happy when we first married. It was a bit of a whirlwind romance, as they say, but I thought after ten months we were both confident about how we felt for each other. We married eighteen months after first meeting.’

‘Did anyone say anything about it being too soon?’

Harry let go of her hand and with a small sigh sat down on the sofa. ‘In our eyes it wasn’t too soon but, yes, they did. My mother was particularly vocal about it. Not in front of Elizabeth though, which I was grateful for. It’s hard enough coming into a tight-knit family without the knowledge that more than one member of the family isn’t exactly happy about it.’

‘Who else? Dominic?’ asked Steph, sitting down next to him.

‘Owen, actually. Dominic was in no position to talk. He was divorced, had been through numerous girlfriends in quite quick succession, and was living with Lisa, who was the mother of his daughter. Lisa was there by default more than anything else, but they have a stable relationship now.’

‘What was Owen’s problem, then?’

‘He had a long, and I mean long, engagement with Natalie. Something like five years, before he finally asked her to marry him. I think he was making sure she’d put up with him before tying the knot, only to have it unravel at some point.’

‘Do you think Owen and your mum had reason to be cautious?’