He looked entreatingly at Mrs O’Keefe. This was not going to be easy.

‘Of course, of course. Come along into the sitting room,’ Mrs O’Keefe replied hurriedly. ‘Deidra, bring the doctor some tea, and some toast as well – I bet he hasn’t eaten. And Mary Kate needs some food inside her too.’

William took Mary Kate by the arm and led her down the hall, her steps slow and heavy. He sat next to her on the sofa. The fire had yet to be lit and the cold, grey room smelt of wood-smoke and stale whiskey fumes. In the diffused winter-morning light Mary Kate noticed the half-empty bottle of whiskey on the table and her eyes locked onto it to help her focus.

‘Lavinia has demanded I buy out the other half of the practice, which I am willing to do. And she, ah… She…’ He paused, glanced out the window, tried again. ‘She also told me to tell you that she’s had the locks on the house changed. She’s even employed a security guard to watch the place, and an agent is coming round this afternoon to put the property on the market.’

‘But… but… I have nothing,’ said Mary Kate.

‘I know, and so… She asked me to meet the estate agent, and I agreed, because I thought in some way I could help you, as Lavinia is already on her way to Surrey. If there is anything I can get for you, please let me know. I could even let you in early, before the agent arrives, but then I will have to leave him with the new keys.’

Mary Kate had turned to the cold, dead fireplace. ‘Did she sleep in our bed?’ Her voice broke. She had wanted to return to their bedroom, to lay her head on the dent in his pillow, to close her eyes and pretend he was there next to her. To breathe in deeply and flood her senses with the smell of him. To call him back, to cry alone in their room. ‘I can’t… I can’t even bury him. My Nicholas. That’s what he’d want.’ She was distraught. There was nothing left to cling to. Nothing she could do for him.

‘I have offered Lavinia one hundred pounds less than the partnership is worth, because I wanted to give the money to you. It’s the least I can do for Nicholas, and for you. Lavinia has accepted my offer, and I have already called into the bank.’ He laid an envelope containing the money on the seat next to Mary Kate. He could tell she wasn’t listening to him.

Mrs O’Keefe came and sat down on the other side of Mary Kate, bookending her. Both she and William knew the delayed reaction would filter through soon. Mary Kate was young and her heart was broken; she had no defences.

‘He’s going to Surrey, but… but I’m not there.’ She looked from one to the other, confused.

And then it came: at first a sob that caught in her throat, then a howl, like that of an animal in pain, and then the tears that ran and ran.