Nuala stood dumbfounded as her mother smoked her cigarette in short, erratic puffs. After a while she said gently, ‘Shall I make you a nice cup of coffee, Mum?’

Maeve shook her head. ‘No, lass. Take that look off your face, it’s tearing the heart out of me. Me and you will go to the restaurant now, and open a good bottle of brandy. We’ll drink till we start laughing. But I warn you, child, that could be some time.’

‘Oh Mum, what’s happened to this family?’

Maeve stood up painfully. ‘Nothing much happened, Nuala love. You all grew up, that’s all.’

Her mother’s voice had tears in it and Nuala held her in her arms, fighting back tears of her own.

Dolly tapped on the office door and entered quietly.

‘Are you all right, darlin’? I was getting worried about you.’

Donna looked into her face and felt a surge of shame at the way she had spoken to her of late.

‘I’m all right, Dolly. Come away in and pour yourself a sherry.’

Dolly poured herself a generous measure of sweet sherry and sat in a deep leather chair by the window.

‘I always liked this room, Donna. If I close me eyes I can see Georgio sitting where you are and shouting the odds over the telephone, winking at me at the same time. He was a lad!’ Her voice was filled with sadness and nostalgia.

Donna sat forward in the chair, listening intently to what Dolly was saying.

‘Do you remember the time you were going to Blackpool and at the last minute he made me come with you? Those were the days, I wish to God they were still here. He was a great man, Georgio, a good man.’

‘Dolly, he’s still with us, woman, he’s not dead!’

The housekeeper shrugged and sipped her sherry.

‘Well, he might as well be, stuck in bleedin’ Parkhurst. I ask you, Donna, what kind of life is it for him? It’s bad enough for you and you’ve got your freedom.’

Donna watched as Dolly’s face brightened.

‘Here, Donna, do you remember that time my old man came after me and started yelling and carrying on at the front door! His face when Georgio came out to him. It was a picture that I’ll never forget. Georgio went ballistic! I can still see him kicking me old man up the khyber as he slung him off the driveway.’

Donna smiled at the woman’s glee.