‘Come, only the best for my special guests.’ Mario stopped walking and clicked his fingers. Instantly, a waiter appeared and led them through a small arched doorway and into a private dining room. Grace gasped, for it was truly entrancing. A small enclave, as if chiselled right through the ancient Venetian architecture. The room was made of brick with a ceiling sloping on either side, so low and atmospheric that they both had to duck as they stepped in and walked towards the table set in the middle beside a metal railed opening that looked directly out onto the canal. Tealights flickered on the ground beneath each railing, radiating a rippling golden glow across the water. Grace glided towards the chair that the waiter had slid from underneath the table for her; he flicked open a starched white napkin across her knees as she sat down. Ellis sat down too and, after the waiter and Mario had left, he looked at Grace and said, ‘Welcome to Venice, and happy birthday, Grace,’ before lifting a bottle of prosecco from an ice bucket beside him and pouring a generous measure into a glass flute that he offered her. He then poured some prosecco for himself.

‘Thank you.’ Accepting the glass she took a sip and let the bubbles linger on her tongue before swallowing, thinking how wonderful this was and how kind and generous of Ellis to arrange such a treat for her. Grace felt so touched by his gesture that her eyes smarted momentarily with emotion, for it suddenly hit her that life really could be so sweet … if she could let it be. But she had been so detached since the split from Matthew, with caring for Cora and turning her back on her dancing career, that she really had lost her way and denied herself the sweetness in life. The emotion she felt right now was sorrow for the part of her that had been sad for far too long. She felt sorry for that woman inside her. Pitied her even. It was a cliché, she knew, but life really was too short for regrets as big as the ones Grace already had. Jamie was right, the old Grace needed to come back, like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon, and as she swallowed another mouthful of prosecco and glanced out across the beautiful Venetian view, she made a mental note to find out about dance classes as soon as she got home. And Grace vowed to find a carer to sit with Cora while she honed her dance skills once more.