I let this pass without comment. ‘I suppose that Francis wanted to do it because he was wild, and didn’t want to work for money. He liked the idea of securing his own future and cheating the system into the bargain.’

‘I used to think that,’ she said.

I felt uneasy. The material of my trousers was sticking between my thighs and the orange seat, making the skin itch. I shifted to loosen it. In that moment, I became consciously aware of something I had always known, but which had slipped from my mind in the years since I had last seen Jessica. There is in every serious friendship a trove of confidences. Secrets is too mean a word, because it is not merely the facts that require proper handling. It is the way those facts relate to the friend, the emotional context in which they are buried, the moment in which they were told. We think we will be weakened by giving away each one, but with every trade we feel stronger, knowing that a burden has passed out of our keeping and into the hands of someone we trust. I had forgotten this, until Jessica’s return that afternoon. I had rediscovered the stored treasure, like a chest of childhood toys found in the attic; I had blown the dust away, wiped the grime with my palm and read her name on the wood. Now I had a terrible premonition. I could tell that Jessica was on the point of taking something I had traded her and using it against me. If she did that, I would begin to worry about each and every point of ingress into my heart. I would have to go around boarding them up to make sure I was safe. Things between us would be for ever colder. I wanted another drink.

‘And what do you think now?’ I asked.

‘Did you know that many forgeries take place as a kind of revenge? The primary motive’s usually economic, but a lot of artists who feel their talents have been overlooked by the art world forge the works of other, well-respected painters to demonstrate what they perceive as the stupidity of critics. The arbitrary apportioning of fame and fortune.’

‘So?’

‘So sometimes I think we were part of Francis’s revenge on the world.’

‘That’s not true.’

‘Sometimes I think Francis deliberately caused the rift with his father. That he got us hooked on a lifestyle we couldn’t afford, then cut us off to soften us up for his grand design.’

‘That’s not fair,’ I said. ‘He’s not here to defend himself.’

‘That’s right,’ Jessica said. ‘He’s not here.’

There was a silence.

‘Did you know that Francis and Lisa used to deal drugs?’ she said. ‘She imported the stuff from London; he would send her a steady stream of clients.’

‘Don’t be melodramatic. They sorted things out for friends. If you wanted to party they would help you. That’s hardly the same as pushing outside playgrounds. And anyway, I don’t seem to remember you complaining too much at the time.’