Amber left first, crying. Elaine left slowly, holding the wall, looking suddenly very old.

Then it was just Tom and me, in the room where it all began.

He sat down on the sofa and cried like a child. I'd never seen him cry before, not once in our marriage.

“I'm sorry,” he kept saying. “Rachel, I'm so sorry. I should have believed you. I should have done the test. I was so angry, and Mum kept saying...”

I waited until he'd stopped.

“I'd like to meet him,” he said at last. “Noah. Please. Whenever you say.”

“Not today,” I said. “He's seven, Tom. He's asked about his dad before, and I've told him the truth, that his dad believed something that wasn't true. I'll tell him the rest gently. When he's ready, and when I'm ready, we'll start slowly.”

He nodded. He didn't argue. For the first time, Tom Whitfield didn't argue with me.

At the door, I turned back.

“Your dad came to see me,” I said. “The week after you threw me out. He stood in the rain and said he believed me. He gave me five thousand pounds of his own money.”

Tom closed his eyes.

“He never said a word,” he whispered.