The very next day, Bess climbed into her little car and tootled up the motorway with a racing heart but a lightness of spirit, knowing it was time to make amends. She arrived as the sun was setting and pulled into her brother’s posh driveway, where his shiny car made hers look even crappier in comparison. Philip opened the wide front door in his jeans and polo shirt and did a double-take. He had put on a little weight, lost a little hair, but despite his look of concern, his kindness was unchanged.

‘Oh my God, Bessie! What a lovely surprise! Come in! Are Mum and Dad okay?’

This was of course his first thought, with his sister turning up unannounced after all this time.

‘They’re fine, absolutely fine.’

She saw his body relax, as if he had been holding his breath.

‘I’m sorry to just pitch up like this, Philip!’

‘Don’t be daft, come in. You look well.’ His tone was a little formal, his movements a little stiff.

Bess followed him into the grand hallway and took in the wide sweep of the staircase with its half-turn. It felt odd to see her brother in such an established home in which she had never set foot.

‘Nanette’s at Zumba; she’ll be home soon. She’ll be so pleased to see you!’

Bess thought of how much it had meant when Mario’s sister had made the effort with a card for her birthday, and wondered for the first time if her sister-in-law might feel abandoned by her. Another wrong that needed righting.

‘Can I . . . can I get you a cuppa?’ he stuttered, as if unsure of the convention after all this time. He turned to walk into the kitchen, she assumed, but she grabbed his arm.

‘I’ve told them, Philip!’ she blurted, desperate to get the words out that had lain snared in a steel cage of her own making for the longest time. It felt like freeing a trapped thing and letting it out to fly. She realised that she had been waiting to say this to her brother for decades.

He turned slowly to face her, his skin a little pale, his expression concerned. ‘You told . . . ?’ Even now she could see the words were too difficult for him to voice, and she understood.

‘I told Mum and Dad about Ellory, about everything – just last night, in fact. They wanted to call you, but I made them promise to hold fire until I’d seen you myself. I wanted to be the one to tell you.’

‘Wow!’ His stance faltered and he sat down hard on the bottom step of the stairs. Bess took the spot next to him.

‘Yes, wow.’

‘Why? How? I mean, I’m glad you have, really I am, but why now, after all this time?’