She sighed. ‘You say that now, but things change. People change. Go to Italy. Improve your skills, like your parents want you to. When you come back, if you still feel the same we’ll see …’She left the sentence unfinished and got to her feet. ‘Good luck, Armando. Take care of yourself. I’ll never forget the good times we had together.’

‘You are cold!’ He spat the words at her. ‘You don’t feel things like I do. Perhaps my mother was right. You are not the girl for me.’

‘Perhaps she is,’ May agreed sadly. ‘Goodbye, dear Armando. I hope you find someone else.’

She reached up and kissed his cheek but he shrugged her off and walked away without looking back. She began to make her way home. They had planned to spend the afternoon together. Now there was nothing to do. She wondered at herself. She felt sad, but quite calm. In a way, it was a relief. Their relationship had become so intense, their physical passion so hard to control, that it had been a source of anxiety to her for some time. She had spoken the truth when she told him that she thought the separation was for the best. What she did feel was empty. She would not see James again, and now Armando was going. There was a vacuum at the centre of her life that she had no idea how to fill.

On Friday evening she could see that Gus was more on edge than usual. When Nan had gone out for her usual ‘constitutional’, he said, ‘Come and sit down. I need to tell you something.’

He sat at the table instead of in his usual easy chair and she sat opposite him. ‘What is it?’

‘I’m going away. I’ve shipped aboard the Royal Standard bound for Melbourne as assistant purser.’

‘Oh, you’re going back to sea? Somehow I always thought you would.’

‘No, not really. Only for this one voyage. When I get to Melbourne I’m staying there.’

‘Staying there? For how long?’

‘Always, probably. I’ll find a job and settle down.’ He leaned forward. ‘They call it the New World, May, and it really is. It’s a different life altogether. It doesn’t matter who your father was or where you were born or educated. You can be whatever you want to be, as long as you’re prepared to work hard. I’ve talked to the people who are emigrating, and they are full of such hope and optimism, and I remember what it was like when I was in Melbourne. There are so many opportunities. A man can get rich if he works hard.’

She reached across the table and grabbed his hands. ‘Oh no, Gus! Please don’t go. Don’t leave me all alone.’

‘You won’t be alone. You’ve got Armando for one thing.’