Justin leant forward and parted the veil of tresses hiding Claudia’s face. ‘I don’t know what to do with you, Claudia,’ he said. ‘What am I doing wrong?’

‘Nothing.’

He kissed her gently and his lips remained close to hers when he said, ‘I love you.’

‘I love you too.’

Claudia wanted time to stop so they could stay like that for ever, but inevitably, Justin sat back in his chair. She picked up her coffee and swallowed back a swell of sadness.

‘I’m going to tell the office not to book me on any more trips for a while,’ Justin said, after mulling over the conundrum that was his wife. ‘It’s been an exhausting year for both of us, and we need to recharge our batteries. And not just because we want to get pregnant. Let’s do it for us. We don’t have to wait for Dry January to start cutting back our alcohol consumption. It would be nice to wake up for once without a hangover.’

He made it sound as if he were talking about himself. He wasn’t.

‘How about we go away for Christmas?’ he continued. ‘Bali might be nice, or the Seychelles?’

It was a tempting offer, but Claudia didn’t think it was safe to leave Karin to her own devices yet. ‘That does sound appealing.’

‘But?’

‘There’s so much to do with the hardship fund. How would it look if I went off jet-setting while there are so many in need?’

‘Phillipa always managed to find a balance. It can be done.’

‘Isn’t it time we all stop idolising Phillipa?’ asked Claudia, her temper rising. She could cope with her so-called friends being sycophants, but not her husband too. ‘She might have her successes, but her failures have been spectacular.’

‘She’s been a good friend.’

‘No, Justin, she hasn’t. Her actions led to the fire and we lost our baby because of it. How can you not be just the tiniest bit angry about that?’

Justin raked his fingers through his hair. ‘We can’t look at it that way.’

‘Why not?’ she asked, but she already knew. Justin liked perfect order to his world. The problems he couldn’t fix, he airbrushed out.

‘It doesn’t matter now,’ he replied. ‘Robert tells me they’re heading off to Geneva next week. They can coordinate the house move from there so they won’t be returning to Sedgefield. Whatever people might think, the town has lost a great asset.’

The news of Phillipa’s imminent departure added some much-needed balm to Claudia’s mood. She gave a theatrical sigh to give Justin the impression that her misplaced anger was spent.