‘I know. Perhaps that came out wrong.’ She sighed. ‘Not like that, maybe, but there’s a barrier around you. And, Frank, I’m not blind. Back at your niece’s christening, I could see how much Kitty and I look like each other, and I’m sure I’m not the only person to have clocked it. You might not see it, but it’s there all the same. I just know I’ll always be on the wrong side of that barrier. Sorry.’ She reached out and touched his arm. ‘Thanks for everything, Frank.’ Then she turned and walked away.

Frank sank slowly into the chair behind the desk, his mind whirring. He was struggling to believe what had just happened. He’d wanted to reach out to Sylvia, to comfort her, and she’d pushed him away. She didn’t want them to be a couple any longer. His pride was deeply hurt. It was hard to imagine that his injury wasn’t somehow to blame; any woman would find it repulsive, surely, and yet Sylvia had been adamant that wasn’t the case. To be fair to her, she’d never complained, always accepted him for who he was, even though she must have ached to go dancing like the rest of her gang of friends. His mind flew off at tangents. How would he explain this to his parents? Dolly in particular had been so fond of the girl. How would he spend his free time? Would all Sylvia’s friends be laughing at him behind his back? Would he spend all his working hours trying to avoid her, avoid them?

Gradually he calmed down and realised he was being stupid. His mother would understand. She’d be sorry he was hurt but would probably say something like it was better to find out now rather than if they’d ended up getting married – just look at his sisters and their misery: Rita with the abusive Charlie and Nancy with unreliable Sid, who’d been caught seeing another woman the night before their wedding. Sylvia was a lifetime away from either of those. She’d made a difficult decision because she thought it was best for both of them.