‘I’ve nothing more to say to Emmet, Eliza. And it won’t take me long to say what I need to say to you.’ She paused. ‘I appreciate this is difficult. That you had no idea what you’d discover when you came here. Emmet explained that you thought it might have been him that your mother —’ She stopped. ‘Which would have been preferable, of course.’

‘Ma, please —’

Sheila ignored her son. ‘Your mother was a troubled young woman, Eliza. You might not have known how troubled, but I certainly noticed it when she stayed here that summer. And of course, it was her idea to get Emmet to Australia, and because of her he had that acci—’

‘Stop it.’

Eliza still hadn’t spoken. It was Emmet again.

‘Stop talking about Jeannie like that. Please,’ he said. ‘As if this was her fault somehow. Dad was responsible. He was the adult in that relationship, if you can call it that. And Jeannie didn’t lure me to Australia. I always wanted to go there. She just made it possible. She found me a place to stay. She got me work.’

‘She nearly got you killed.’

‘That fight was my fault. I was the one who’d drunk too much. I was the one who threw the first punch. Yes, I missed and the fellow who hit me had better aim, but I had that accident because of my own actions.’

‘You can’t remember it. You told us that.’

‘I can’t remember lots from that time. But there’s something memorable about being hit in the head that’s stayed with me. Jeannie was a good person, Ma. A great person. Loyal. Fun. Smart.’

Sheila made a scoffing noise.

Emmet turned to Eliza. ‘I’m having a lot of trouble with this myself. I can’t begin to imagine how you’re feeling. I’m sorry for how my mother has talked to you. I’m sure you didn’t expect any of it.’

‘She must have known she’d stir up trouble.’ Sheila didn’t say Eliza’s name. She was looking at Emmet. ‘What did she think would happen? That we would say, “Oh, hello, here you are, proof of Hugh’s biggest mistake”?’

Eliza spoke then. Loudly. ‘I told you, Sheila, I’m not a mistake.’ At their shocked expressions, she lowered her voice. ‘I’m sorry for your hurt, Sheila, and I’m sorry to cause problems between you both, Emmet, but I am not a mistake. I was loved. I loved my mother very much. I miss her every minute of every day.’

Sheila made a dismissive noise.