I was so surprised I could not move. I remained glued to the middle of the green rug, feeling its pile through the soles of my stockings, thinking uncontrollable thoughts about people’s mothers, and my own mother, and betrayal, and the fight between David and Aidan, and the sorrow and shame of ruined reputations. I tried to say something sympathetic, or at least not too crass, but I had no breath to speak.

“I was employed on the first film David was the AD on, about five years ago,” continued Aidan. “He latched on to me, I suppose, because I was better educated and better connected than he was, and he hoped to raise himself up by clinging to my coat-tails. He met my mother because she used to like to come and watch me on set sometimes in those days. He fawned over her, and she was so lonely – my father had died two years before. She was flattered and was forever telling me how kind and wonderful he was. But I never trusted him and he knew it, though he maintained a polite façade. He couldn’t stand the fact that I saw through him. I knew he was an opportunist and a liar, persuading my dear Ma into giving him money while carrying on with God knows how many other women, sniffing cocaine and keeping every champagne producer in France in business.”

My surprise had been replaced by a nervous, unsettled feeling. Robert Palliser had suggested I invite my own family to tour the studios. If I had, who could say what influence David might have exerted? The thought of my impressionable brother falling under his spell terrified me. “So…” I began slowly, considering each word, “your revenge would not be pointless. But it would still be revenge.”

He sighed, and passed his hand over his forehead. “Yes, I suppose so.” Agitated, he was smoking fast.

I watched him in silence while his cigarette rapidly diminished. “May I ask … what happened to your mother?”

“Oh, she drowned.” He said this matter-of-factly. But the gaslight revealed that every tendon in his neck, in its stiff collar and tie, was tight, and perspiration filmed his upper lip. “Apparently, she fell off a ship. But whatever they say, Clara, I am convinced that in actual fact, she jumped.”

My hand went to my mouth, and I let out an involuntary whimper.

“You see, after David left her,” he went on, “she was never the same. Someone suggested she go on a cruise. For a relaxing holiday, I suppose. I waved goodbye to her at Tilbury, and the next time I saw her was in the mortuary.”

My body felt as if it had been winded by a severe blow. But my limbs had recovered their ability to move, so I sat down beside him, and with the small amount of breath I could muster, I asked, “But how can you bear to be anywhere near David, after what happened?”

“Well, of course I swore I would never work with David Penn again, but financially, needs must. I hadn’t worked for months and months, and when the job on Innocence came up, my agent urged me to take it. He doesn’t know about David. I wavered, then when I heard that a new young actress was going to play the lead I decided to do it.” He took a few pensive puffs. “I thought I would be able to manage for the sake of a starring role, but I couldn’t. You saw what it’s like between David and me. And when he started getting his claws into you, imagine how I felt.”

He stubbed out his cigarette and lit another. I had never seen him chain smoke like this, though the reason for his excessive drinking and smoking was becoming much clearer. “Clara, I know all this is in the past,” he said decisively. “I know that preserving your honour will not restore my mother’s and will not bring her back to me. Above all, I do not wish you to think you have gone from being deceived by one man to being forced into something against your will by another. But David Penn has not reformed. If we do not do something now he will go on considering himself above the law, just like his father did before he discovered he wasn’t and ended up in jail.” His voice softened a little, but his expression remained unyielding. “Do you not see? By helping me do this, you will make David think twice before he tries to ruin someone else.”

Now I knew the reason behind his warning that day in the dressing room. Be careful of yourself, he had said. His mother had not, perhaps, been careful enough of herself. “Oh, Aidan…” My feelings had rolled themselves up into such a tight ball that my stomach ached. Instinct made me lean against him, my head in the hollow under his chin. “I understand. This is vital, isn’t it?”

Like a string unravelling, the tension left his body. I could feel the drumming of his heart. He put his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder. Emotions and memories crowded within me: Da, my dear silly old Da, had always squeezed me like that when I did something he approved of, like coming first in a spelling test at school. Frank, who rarely touched me, had put his arm around me as we stood together at Grandma Freebody’s funeral last year. I had been sobbing; he was prevented from doing so by the necessity of appearing manly. But his emotion flowed down his arm; I felt it, just as I felt Aidan’s emotion now.

“It’s the most important thing I’ve ever done,” he said.

My decision seemed to make itself. “Then tell me what you want me to do, and I’ll do it.”