“Ned’s a good man,” Bill said graciously. In fact, he had spent decades hating Ned. Only now that Ned had been married some twenty years with grown up children of his own, had Bill forgiven the poor innocent for the late Mrs. Clark’s schemes.

As for Lottie’s parents, he had felt uncomfortable around both of them. Mrs. Clark had made no attempts to hide her dislike of him. She had treated him like an impoverished relation who had overstayed his welcome. It had made living in that house very difficult and had caused considerable friction between the young spouses. Mr. Clark had treated him with surprising kindness (after telling him that he would kill him if he ever broke Lottie’s heart, which Bill had agreed to). But Bill had shared none of the old man’s easy warmth. His own manners were formal and stiff. He had talked to the man as he would to a headmaster or a boss: respectful, correct, impersonal, only speaking when spoken to. He couldn’t recall interacting with his elders in any other way. And anyway, he had always been aware that Mr. Clark would never have accepted him for Lottie if he knew the truth about his past. Every interaction with him had felt like a lie and so he had kept the man at an arm’s length. Lottie had begged him to tell her father the truth, or to let her tell him – it wouldn’t make a difference, she had said – but he had forbidden it and reminded her of the promise she made. The secret had made her feel ill at ease, alienated from her family, and that too had caused friction between herself and her husband.

And now, once again, his past had caught up with him to create yet more havoc. Would it ever stop? He rubbed his thumb over the back of Lottie’s hand. “Perhaps yer mum was right, though,” he muttered. “Ned doesn’t have an ugly past to come an’ wreak havoc at any time…” Today, that history came in the shape of his sister, who refused to bugger off.