‘Nothing,’ she said, and tied her woollen scarf around her neck. But she wanted to speak, to make him have some kind of emotion. She wanted him to be honest with her, to tell her something she could hold onto. ‘You shouldn’t have said that about Arthur. He’s your friend.’ Her throat felt tight and she was afraid of crying. ‘He’s my friend.’

Jack snorted. ‘He’s no friend.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Jack, we’ve known each other since we were children.’ Anger flared. ‘He told me what you’re like. He told me there were other girls.’ Now it was out of her mouth, she was afraid of him telling her, afraid of knowing the truth.

‘He did, did he? And why don’t you ask yourself why he said that to you? You really wanna have this conversation right now? Look at yourself, Verity, before you say anything about me.’ His voice was low, almost a whisper. ‘You’re not so perfect. You with your old-money farmhouse and your history and your funny little English ways. All so very proper but you’ve not been honest with me. You’ve been stringing two guys along this whole time.’

‘He also told me that you’ve been hiding things,’ she said.

He stared at her. She was cold all over, detached from the person saying these things. And somewhere she felt the tingling burn of the truth, out in the cool, fresh air.

‘Oh yeah, and how does he know so much?’ he said, very quietly.

‘I don’t know.’ It sounded pathetic.

He laughed. ‘You even gonna tell me what I’m accused of lying about?’

‘And you’ve never told us who you really are, who your family are, if you’re not from the bloody desert, or a ranch. And what you’re really doing here. Why does it all have to be so bloody cloak and dagger?’ She was flushed and hot.

‘And you’re just gonna take this crap from a Jew? He’s probably a bloody Zionist or a Commie for all we know.’ His eyes were glinting with fire.

‘Don’t be stupid, Jack. You can’t say that. You’re just a bloody liar who doesn’t care about any of us.’

‘A liar. That’s rich. Cloak and dagger? You love all of that—’ He waved his hand around the tiny room. ‘All the subterfuge and hiding. I’m just someone to fuck before you get married to some pompous rich guy and disappear back to your real life. You don’t really care about me.’

She flinched at his words and found her mouth twisting into an ugly sneer. ‘That shows how little you do know about me, then.’ She turned and ran out of the house, careering along the dark lane on the black marsh.