‘I was sure she’d say I led him on. Michael was such a star, so charismatic and charming. I’d been saying this to Mum all week so I thought she’d leap to conclusions.’ She fell silent. ‘And I wondered if I had led him on. Or maybe I’d imagined the whole thing, that it wasn’t really so bad. He was just trying it on. Lots of men do that and nobody cares.’ Another pause. ‘He was so well connected, so admired, I knew if I told anyone they’d just think I was a silly girl trying to get some attention.’ Her words had taken on an almost childish tone, as if she were speaking with her teenage voice. ‘MeToo has become such a thing these days. Compared to some, my experience is minor league …’

Grace faltered and fell silent. Finch knew she would have repeated this account over and over to herself through the years as she tried to rationalize – unsuccessfully – what had happened to her. Tried to make light of it, to pretend it was no big deal.

‘You poor, poor girl,’ Finch said, wrapping his arms round the trembling figure. ‘It isn’t minor at all. Keeping it secret all these years must have been hell.’ He looked down at her. ‘So even Sam doesn’t know?’

She shook her head miserably. ‘I’ve never breathed a word to anyone till now. And I don’t see the point in involving him. He’d only be upset. And he might want to make something of it … I couldn’t bear that.’ She raised her head. ‘I will never, ever go to the police, Finch. So don’t even suggest it.’

‘I wasn’t going to,’ he said, although his blood was boiling with fury at the man. He should be made to pay, he thought. He should at least face some sort of public exposure. But the thought of what Grace would have to go through to achieve that end made him cringe. What would Nell have done? he asked himself. His wife’s imagined opinion had been the benchmark for any problem in the past. She’d been so fearless when faced with a difficult situation, tackling it head on, never taking no for an answer.

‘Your mum would definitely have believed you, Gracie. She’d never have thought you were to blame in a situation like that. You were sixteen, for God’s sake.’

Grace looked almost sullen for a second. ‘You don’t know that. I was a bit of a crazy teenager, back then. I loved attention.’ She gave an ironic smile. ‘Not any more.’

‘That’s like saying a girl deserves to be raped because she’s wearing a short skirt and has had a drink or two.’