'Prison? He was in prison?'
'He stole cars. Over a period of time, a number of cars. Believe me, I hadn't the least idea of what happened to your parents until long after you and he were - had become a couple. The first you told me of it was at the hospital, do you remember? I was quite ill at the time; hearing about it almost made me have a relapse. Otherwise perhaps I would have handled the situation better, but what good would it have done to have told you at that stage? Why should you ever have to know? If we all knew the worst about each other, could we ever bear to be in the same room with another human being? The two of you were so good together, why risk spoiling it?'
'He was a car thief, is that what you're telling me?'
'Before you met him. Years ago.'
I was so badly shaken for a while I could not speak. Eventually I said, 'You say he recognised someone at the hotel?'
'One of your guests had a son who was in the same jail.'
'So a client at my hotel was a heterosexual ex-convict, is that what you're saying?'
'Some gay men do have children. It was his son who was in jail. I had to tell you because of the worry that you might learn of it in some other way. He might have said something to you about having seen Tom before. We couldn't risk you hearing about all this from a stranger.'
'Why didn't Tom have the guts to tell me himself?'
'This hasn't been easy for him. When he went up to Manchester that time it was because he felt guilty, but he couldn't bring himself to confess to you, he thought you would end the relationship if you knew. Of course he could not really run away from the problem. He couldn't stay up there forever and forget about you. He came back and your feelings had not changed, you still wanted each other. He's been terrified that you would find out. I'm sorry. We were wrong to keep it from you, badly wrong, but we never intended you any harm.'
'What do you expect me to do? You know what happened to my parents. You only get one set of them, and when they're gone they're gone. You bastards.'
'Tom has never killed anyone. He had nothing to do with what happened to your parents. You've every right to be upset but don't to be too harsh.'