‘What, sweetheart, what has he done? Take a deep breath, Lily. It will all be all right. Whatever it is—’

‘No, Mum, it won’t – it can’t – be all right,’ she wailed. ‘There was this rumour, from one of the singers, she didn’t know Dad was my… but I didn’t believe it…’

‘What rumour, Lily?’

‘That Dad had been… involved… with a student, Mum.’ She spoke through sobs, dabbing roughly at her running eyes and nose with her long sleeves. ‘But now it’s in the papers. The girl called him out. Inappropriate behaviour. It says the college have been trying to hush it up and that Dad has been suspended. Until the girl has finished her degree. See for yourself.’ She reached into the recycling box and slapped a folded newspaper between their plates. ‘Not pressing charges, it says, but that’s obviously because they have reached some kind of settlement. I’ve tried to call Dad…’ her voice thick with disgust ‘…but his phone’s off. And I was actually glad, because I wouldn’t know what the fuck to say anyway. And I am also glad that Matteo is away, because I can’t face telling him either. It is so gross… and I’ve got so much going on, and now this… from Dad.’ She buried her face in her hands.

Esther had already picked up the paper. It was the local Evening News, from the day before, folded open at the relevant page. She studied the small paragraph of text, under the headline Professor in Alleged Sexual Harassment Case. There was a tiny smudgy photograph of Lucas beside it, in full peacock regalia at some ceremony or other. Esther read the sentences quickly, and then a second time, more slowly. The identity of the student wasn’t disclosed, beyond the fact of her being a first year. Only Lucas’s name and position were outlined in all their glory. It had to be some sort of leak, Esther speculated, since colleges were big on protecting their public images. ‘But he wouldn’t do such a thing…’ she murmured, scanning the piece again.

She looked up to see Lily staring across the table, no longer crying, her eyes huge and aghast. ‘How can you even say that, Mum? How can you even know?’

‘I just do. I know your father. He wouldn’t.’ Esther spoke very quietly, surprising herself at her own certainty. ‘It was probably just one of those things—’

‘One of those things…?’