‘This is going to be a little bit of paradise for the next few days,’ she said contentedly. ‘The site is lovely.’ She picked up the bottle of wine and poured them both a glass. ‘I know we had wine with supper, but hey, I’m on holiday. Dad sends his regards by the way.’ A remark that Belinda acknowledged with a wave of her wine glass. ‘I like your Alain,’ Chloe said, raising her eyebrows at Belinda. ‘He’s lovely. Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?’

‘No, and for the record, he’s not my Alain,’ Belinda answered.

‘Judging from the way he looks at you, I think he could be,’ Chloe said.

‘Don’t be daft. He’s just a very good friend.’ Belinda took a drink of her wine, wondering if that was the whole truth. He’d certainly got under her skin in a good way recently. ‘What I need to talk to you about is granny and granddad. Anouk, Fern’s ma-in-law, has lived here all her life and was able to tell me the truth about their break-up all those years ago.’

‘One or both of them had an affair has always been my guess,’ Chloe said, reaching for a handful of crisps.

‘It’s not quite as straightforward as that.’ Belinda took a deep breath. ‘They were never actually married. And the reason for that was because granddad already had a wife when he met my mum. A wife who had left him six years earlier.’

‘Why didn’t he just divorce her?’ Chloe, ever pragmatic, asked.

‘Because back in the day it wasn’t that easy and also no one had heard from her or knew where she was in all that time. So when she turned up, eighteen years after granny and grandad got together, it was a shock and caused a huge scandal. Helena told all and sundry that she was still Mrs Belrose and she had no intention of divorcing.’

‘Poor Granny. No wonder she was so bitter.’

‘It explains a lot,’ Belinda said. ‘I wish though she’d told me the truth years ago.’ She helped herself to a few crisps, glancing at Chloe as she did. ‘The other thing I have to tell you is that Granddad is here in Brittany and still alive. Very ill but alive.’

‘Seriously?’ Chloe gave a shocked gasp. ‘He’s here in Brittany? Are you going to see him?’

‘He’s been living in my old family home with his wife but a few days ago he was moved into a hospice where I’ve already been to see him. Nobody can say how long he has to live, could be a few days or a couple of weeks.’ To her own ears, the words sounded automatic, unemotional, when the truth was she felt like a limp rag from all the emotion of the past few days.