"So how come you started Spanish in the middle of the school year?"
They were sitting at the kitchen table in Rupert's house, drinking coffee and eating crisps.
"I'd been studying it on my own, secretly, and Auntie Alison found out and said if I was going to learn it I might as well do it properly and she gave me a few private lessons to bring me up to where the class was so I could do it at school."
Samantha raised her eyebrows. "Why secretly?"
"My mother didn't want me to learn it. My father was Spanish, you see, and I think it's all a bit painful for her, being reminded, you know."He frowned.
"Your father was Spanish? Why was? What happened?"
"He died."
"Oh God, I'm really sorry. I didn't know."
He smiled at her. "How could you? Anyway, it doesn't matter. He died before I was b
