Helena had a quick bath, without candles, and then got out and dried herself briefly before pulling on her clothes again. She had to get out of the house as quickly as possible.

To her relief, her mother was alone in the kitchen when she got back down. She was wrapping foil round a Pyrex dish.

‘Oh God, Mum, I’m so sorry! Interrupting your evening like that,’ said Helena. ‘I really should have called—’ A horrible thought struck her. ‘He hasn’t gone home, has he? William? I didn’t drive him away?’

‘No, darling. He’s just getting a fire going in the sitting room. I know it’s spring and all that but it’s really quite chilly.’

‘Oh, that’s all right, I would have hated to ruin your evening completely.’

‘No, darling, it’s fine! And you don’t have to rush off.’

Gilly’s words said one thing, her body language quite another; Helena was fairly fluent in ‘Mum’ by now. ‘Yes I do. But I will certainly take the crumble. You know how much Jago loves your cooking.’ Then she realised her mother had said this earlier.

‘While we’re talking about Jago,’ said Gilly, pausing in her foil manipulations, ‘I just want to say while it’s sad he won’t be the father of my grandchildren, he’s still a really lovely friend. I don’t think you should have to worry about people knowing he’s gay. There’s no shame in it or even embarrassment.’

Helena took a breath. Her mum thought Jago was gay. And while she had never thought it before, she suddenly wondered if Gilly was right. ‘Of course not—’

‘I think he’s far too nice to be heterosexual,’ Gilly was saying. ‘Although William is very nice too and he’s certainly—’

‘It’s OK, Mum,’ said Helena quickly. ‘I think William is lovely but I don’t think—’

‘You don’t think Jago is gay?’ Gilly had that sad but loving expression that parents take on when they tell you your goldfish has died. ‘Darling, he borrowed a hot-water bottle for you. I can’t think of any straight men who would be so thoughtful. Can you?’

‘Mum—’

‘I knew there was something not quite normal between you. I didn’t know what until it suddenly hit me. And while in some ways it is sad, as I said – he is so very handsome and the babies would be gorgeous – as long as he’s happy and …’ She paused. ‘I assumed you knew. You must be disappointed.’

Helena didn’t know what to say. She only knew that she needed to find out if her mother was right as soon as possible. ‘Can you give me the crumble? I’ll sort this out with Jago in the morning.’

‘You don’t want to stay the night?’

‘Certainly not! You’re with your accountant – you probably want to talk business.’