Watching her children play in the garden the morning after they arrived, hunting for the stash of colourful chocolate eggs Tom had smuggled in in spite of his mother’s distaste for such commercialisation of a sacred holiday, she savoured the brisk air rubbing against her cheeks, making them tingle.

It was the closest to contentment she had felt in a long time.

‘So when is Callum starting nursery?’ Elsie addressed them over breakfast the next morning, and Gabriela felt Tom’s muscles tense beside her.

‘He’s going to be with me for a while, like Sadie was,’ he replied with a forthrightness that made the corners of Gabriela’s mouth lift in appreciation.

Elsie raised her eyebrows, and Graham cleared his throat.

‘That’s right, with me,’ Tom answered the unspoken question, smiling intently at his father. ‘We think it’s important that he’s at home for as long as possible.’

‘I agree, I always thought it was so important that a child stays with its mother,’ Elsie replied without missing a beat, chewing her single slice of toast with such slight movements of the mouth that it was a wonder she ever made it through more than a single mouthful in one sitting.

Before Gabriela could say anything, she felt Tom’s foot pressing against hers under the table. When she looked at him, he was fixing her with a gaze that pleaded with her not to bother, and so she didn’t.

Working with Madeleine as the senior lead in London felt like a new lease of life. Madeleine was so straightforward, so gloriously capable and trusting of those to whom she delegated, and the sense of growth Gabriela felt under her reign was liberating.

While Madeleine coordinated with government agencies in Vietnam, it was Gabriela’s job – with the help of a small team – to garner interest and negotiate ways of working not just to prevent trafficking to the UK but to support victims, liaising with relevant departmental leads whilst bringing these services together on the ground.

Eventually, Madeleine said, there would be the chance of another secondment, to one of the countries involved in the trafficking chain, anywhere from Pakistan to Belarus. But for now it was about forging relationships, setting up teams who could coordinate efforts from the UK.

Any concerns Gabriela might have had about potential tensions arising at home from her escalated role at work were immediately put at ease. If she’d worried Tom would feel resentful of the increasing time and resources she was ploughing into the job, there was no need. Almost the opposite was true; the harder she worked, the more satisfied she was when she came home. And the more delineated the roles between them were, the better they worked together as a team, even if inevitably compromises had to be made.