She caught a taxi outside the station. Her mother’s postcards were tucked safely in her handbag. She’d read them all again during the train journey, enjoying them even more the second time round.

Back at the Montgomery, on her way to Maxie’s suite, she made a detour to her own bedroom to collect the folder of paperwork she’d brought from Melbourne.

Her godmothers gave her the warmest of welcomes. Maxie thanked her again for all she’d done at the flat. She looked settled into her temporary home, her plastered foot up on a stool.

Eliza took a seat by the bay window. She couldn’t stop smiling. ‘I’ve got so many questions. I was going to start by asking you to tell me everything you know about my father. But it’s all in the postcards, isn’t it? That’s why you wanted me to read them. To work it out myself. All Mum ever told me was that she first met my father overseas, then he came to Australia. It has to be her Irish friend Emmet, doesn’t it?’

‘We really don’t know, Eliza,’ Maxie said. ‘I’m sorry, but we don’t.’

‘She never told us either,’ Olivia reminded her.

‘But isn’t it like Mum to leave all these clues? It was like she was speaking to me, like she was back with me. She hadn’t been able to tell me on my eighteenth, but she was somehow telling me another way. Did you ever meet him? When he was in Australia? Do you know his surname, anything else about him? Could you help me find him?’

Olivia seemed taken aback at the sudden onslaught. ‘We’ll help as much as we can, of course. But are you sure now is the right time? Have you had breakfast? Do you need to freshen up?’

Eliza laughed. ‘Olivia, I’ve been waiting for years to talk about this. I’ve got so many questions, I hardly know where to start. Not just about Emmet. About Mum. Her family.’ She noticed an exchange of glances. ‘What is it? Is something wrong?’

‘Eliza —’ Maxie began, before Olivia interrupted.

‘Eliza, we need to start with one story first. It might help other things we tell you make sense.’

‘About my father?’

‘About Jeannie. Something that happened before she went travelling.’

‘Something bad?’

Olivia stood up and put the Do Not Disturb sign on Maxie’s door.

Olivia did most of the talking, with Maxie adding occasional extra detail. Eliza sat still, listening intently.

Their boarding school was an hour outside Melbourne, Olivia began. On rare occasions, the senior girls were allowed to catch a train into the city, as long as they were back in their dorms by ten. It had been Olivia’s idea for the three of them to have an outing.