“I am sorry as well.” Father shook his head. “For leaving, of course, and for not coming home when I should have.”

“I told you—” Mother began.

“I should have ignored you,” he said in a hard tone. “I should have done what I knew was right. In that, I failed.”

“This will not be easy, you know.” Beryl stared at her father. “For any of us.”

“I do not expect it to be.” Father shrugged.

“Still, it is Christmas,” Beryl said slowly. “Which does seem to me to be an appropriate place to start.”

“What about Delilah?” Camille asked.

“That’s why I sent her and the others on a walk. We thought we should speak to you first.”

“Are you all right?” Camille said to her twin.

“Well . . .” Beryl glanced up at her husband. He nodded slightly. “I’ve known for several years. I found some of Father’s letters.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

Beryl winced. “I was protecting you.”

“It seems the only one in this family who was only thinking of himself was me,” Father said.

“Not entirely.” Mother met his gaze. “Oh, don’t mistake my words, you were for a long time, far longer than I really expected. But all this”—she swept a wide gesture at her daughters—“took the kind of courage I never imagined you would find.” She hesitated. “When I told you never to return, I thought surely you would ignore me. I thought you’d be back. And every time I responded to your letters, I thought, ‘This time he’ll ignore me. He’ll finally come home.’ ” She met her husband’s gaze. “It only took you twenty years. I suppose it could have been longer.”

“It should have been less,” he said.

“It scarcely matters who should have done what at this point, does it?” Beryl looked from one parent to the next. “It seems to me we either wallow in recrimination and remorse, or we move on from here. I would much prefer to move on.”

“This is not . . .” Mother paused and managed a wry smile. “Well, not exactly the Christmas I imagined.”

“No, Mother,” Beryl said firmly. “In many ways, it’s better.”

Camille stared at her twin. This was not how she’d ever expected Beryl would take the news of their father’s reappearance. She wasn’t entirely sure how she was taking it either, but then she’d known he was alive far longer than Beryl had. And her sister was right: This would not be easy for any of them. But then wasn’t anything truly worth having worth the effort?

“Psst.”

“Good Lord, not now.” Camille heaved a resigned sigh. “If you will excuse me.” She cast her sister an encouraging smile, stepped out of the dining room and came face to face with Delilah.

“What on earth is going on?” Suspicion shone in Delilah’s eyes. “I was summoned the moment we entered the house.”