‘Claudia wanted me to put in an offer for this place.’

‘Here?’ Phillipa said, her cool demeanour slipping a touch.

‘Too late, I’m afraid,’ Robert said. ‘There was a bit of a bidding war, but we accepted an offer this afternoon, so it’s all systems go.’

‘Does that mean you’ll be moving soon?’

Phillipa laughed. ‘My, my, Claudia, you make it sound like you can’t wait to see the back of us.’

‘Now that couldn’t be further from the truth,’ Justin replied with a chuckle that was shared with Robert. Their husbands were oblivious to the underlying tension between their wives. ‘You’ve been the perfect role model for Claudia. She wouldn’t be where she is today without you.’

‘Oh, I don’t think I can take any credit for what Claudia’s been doing lately.’

‘I haven’t done anything that—’ Claudia’s half-hearted attempt to say something that was conciliatory but not cowed was drowned out by Justin.

‘Nonsense,’ he said. ‘And I’m sure Claudia could benefit from your guidance going forward. Wilmslow isn’t that far. We should do this more often. It’s been a while.’

If Justin was thinking back to a previous dinner party when it had been a cosy foursome at the Montgomerys’, he was travelling back further than Claudia’s time as his wife. She imagined Justin and Sasha had been invited over for dinner regularly until his first wife had called an end to their five-year marriage.

When Justin had bumped into Claudia all those years ago at the tennis club, his heart and pride had been wounded. He would tell her later that his friends thought he was on the rebound when he announced he had fallen head-over-heels in love again. And of those who chimed in with advice, Claudia suspected that Phillipa’s voice would have been amongst the loudest.

‘We want to offer you support too, Phillipa,’ Claudia said, deciding it was her turn to point score. ‘You must have felt very isolated when the whole town turned against you.’

‘It was a dark time,’ Robert said solemnly. ‘And we didn’t quite appreciate how dark until we came home. Some of the vile stories that have been circulating are outrageous.’

Robert Montgomery was too polite to say what particular products of the rumour mill were causing his cheeks to glow crimson. He was normally a stoic man, submitting quietly to a self-imposed exile and accepting there was no way back despite Phillipa’s exoneration. This was different. His present angst had nothing to do with the Empress fire, and everything to do with his wife’s reputation.

Phillipa placed a hand over his. ‘It’s not worth getting upset over, darling. I said the truth will out, and the piece in the Courier today was certainly a slap in the face to some.’

‘It was a lovely article,’ Justin said. ‘And long overdue.’