Instantly my nerve-ends jangled, just as they had jangled when I had spotted him in church, but this time my stomach lurched as if it were about to liquefy. In panic I turned my back on him, but I remained appalled; in fact I could hardly believe I had been pathetic enough to give such a knee-jerk sexual response.“What’s the matter?” demanded Nicholas at once.“Gavin. He’s still here—I thought he’d gone.” To my relief my voice sounded only mildly harassed, and as Nicholas glanced across the churchyard I felt thankful that he was present. Bridget Slaney had begged him to come, Moira too had added a plea, and finally he had given way, deciding that the funeral should somehow be wedged into his overcrowded schedule.“Give me a couple of minutes,” I heard him say as he looked at Gavin, “and then join us.”“You can’t mean you’re going to talk to him!”Nicholas raised an eyebrow. “It’s my job. The bereaved need support at funerals.”“Bereaved? But Richard was just a walking chequebook to that man!”“Then why’s he here?
