For a few moments, no one in the room spoke. George found that he quite enjoyed the silence, and if it hadn’t been for the stench of his daughter’s boyfriend wafting through the air like the waste pipe of a sewage works, it would have been the most enjoyable part of his day so far.

‘Anyway,’ said Elizabeth finally. ‘If we can move on—’

‘I’d be delighted if you did,’ said George.

‘We wanted to discuss something with you.’

‘Oh yes,’ replied Beverley. ‘What was it? Are you going to find your own flat? That’s fine. We totally support your move towards independence, don’t we, George?’

‘Absolutely. I’ll even pay for the Uber.’

‘We’re planning a trip to Indonesia,’ said Wilkes.

‘Now, when you say we,’ replied George, ‘are you referring to yourself as a non-binary identity or to you and my daughter?’

‘To both of us.’

‘To both of who?’

‘To Elizabeth and us.’

‘Ah, good. I’m not trying to be difficult, you understand. It’s just that it makes it very confusing. If you’re a plural, how is someone to know when you’re referring to yourself alone and when you’re referring to yourself in company with others?’

‘Context will probably be all.’

‘Ah, context. I see. Good to know.’

‘The point is, we’re hoping to go there quite soon.’

‘I must admit, I’ve never actually been to Indonesia,’ declared Beverley, looking up at the ceiling. ‘But I have a friend who went there a couple of years ago – I think she stayed in the Bulgari Resort – and she raved about it. I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time. How long will you be gone? No need to rush back.’

‘We won’t be staying in the Bulgari Resort, Mother,’ said Elizabeth. ‘We’re going to a leper colony.’

Another brief silence before George and Beverley turned to each other and burst out laughing. They laughed for a long time, tears streaming down their cheeks, and when they had finally finished, George remarked on how much he’d needed that.

‘It’s been a rotten couple of days,’ he added.

‘It’s not a joke,’ said Wilkes. ‘We really are going to a leper colony.’

‘But there are no leper colonies any more,’ said Beverley, looking utterly bewildered. ‘And even if there were, why on earth—’

‘There’s a few.’

‘Nonsense.’

‘It’s true. And they need our help.’

‘Again,’ said George, ‘when you say our—’

‘I mean Elizabeth’s and our help.’

Beverley turned to her daughter, looking at her as if she couldn’t quite understand what was going on.

‘Wilkes wants us to go,’ said Elizabeth, hoping that something in her tone might make her parents realize that she was hoping they would forbid it, a prohibition that, in normal circumstances, she would not tolerate but which, on this occasion, would prove perfectly acceptable.

‘But why?’ asked George.