Sipping the gin, feeling the warmth of the spirit in her throat, she started to cry. Big silent tears. She let them flow. After tonight, she wouldn’t allow herself that indulgence again. But now, in the moment, there was no point in trying to stop the tears. Forget Arthur. Forget Penang. Forget everything except those beautiful children sleeping upstairs, she told herself.

The gin must have made her drowsy, as she woke with a start, curled up on the sofa, at the sound of the doorbell. Evie got to her feet and went to the door. No one called in the evenings. And she knew so few people. Scarcely able to breathe, she opened the door, knowing with absolute certainty that Arthur would be standing there.

As soon as she saw him she knew her love for him was as strong as ever.

He looked wretched. ‘I’m sorry, Evie.’ He drew her into his arms and they stood there for a couple of moments on the doorstep, her face buried in the rough tweed of his coat.

‘May I come in? I need to explain.’

Evie stepped backwards and took his hand, leading him into the drawing room. ‘Would you like a drink?’ she said. ‘I have no whisky but you’re welcome to have a gin.’

He shook his head. ‘A cup of tea would be nice.’

Still nervous, and unsure where things stood between them, she went into the kitchen and busied herself making the tea, her hands shaking. When she got back, he was pacing up and down in front of the fireplace. She handed him the tea but he put it aside on the mantlepiece.

‘I wasn’t completely straight with you before. I knew you hadn’t died in Singapore and had got to Australia. I’d been a party to the evacuation plans. All the records were destroyed in the war but I found out the ship you would have left on got safely to Australia.’

‘Why didn’t you contact me?’ She looked at him helplessly, as he continued to pace up and down. She sank into a chair.

‘I didn’t think you’d want to see me. To have anything to do with me.’

‘Why ever not?’

‘Because so much time had passed. You must have built a new life.’ He hesitated. ‘And because of what happened to me. Because of what I’ve become.’

‘You’re speaking in riddles, Arthur.’ Evie felt bewildered. ‘Nothing you’ve done can make any difference to how I feel about you. I love you and I always believed you loved me too.’

He went towards her, bending down to kneel on the floor in front of her chair. He took her hands in his. ‘I do love you. It was only the thought of you, of seeing you again, that got me through those dreadful years. My first thought each morning and my last thought at night was of you. I’ll love you, Evie, till the day I die. Nothing will ever change that. But I’ve changed. I’ve seen such things, done such things. I’ll never be able to wash the stain of that away from me.’ He leaned back on his heels. ‘And look at me, Evie. See what’s become of me. What they did to me. Under these clothes, my body is covered in welts. My back will never heal. I’ll carry the marks the Japanese guards made on me for the rest of my life. I’m a broken man, Evie. A collection of scars and bones. How can I expect you to love me? If you could see me you’d feel only disgust.’