In the end she went out into the garden and cleared a bed she’d been thinking of redoing for some time although she hadn’t decided what she wanted to do with it. Ulysses came with her, trying to imply that gardening had been his idea all the time.

She’d always liked gardening and hers looked wonderful in the spring. Little daffodils bloomed next to miniature irises and grape hyacinths, drifts of yellow and blue like water and sunshine. That had been her plan when she’d planted them but now, although she still found them pretty, their loveliness enhanced her sadness instead of cheering her up. She and Helena hardly ever fell out and it was heartbreaking.

However, she felt better when she came indoors and decided to do what was so often the best thing – nothing. She would carry on as normal and the right decision would occur to her. And as Leo was coming to dinner to plan their trip to Vienna that evening, she could distract herself with cooking.

She was doing slow-roasted pork belly because Leo had once mentioned liking it. And it was going to be perfect. In the kitchen, Gilly had control and right now this was a great comfort to her.

All the time she cooked she thought about Leo and all the time she wondered what difference, if any, Helena’s information made to her feelings.

As she scored the pork fat with the Stanley knife she kept for the purpose, she realised she hadn’t actually heard the details. It was perfectly possible that Leo had got caught up himself in some scam or other without being aware of it and he had just been brought down by others. But then, unexpectedly, the vision of the car on the wrong side of the road hurtling towards her came into her head. It had given her nightmares for months. Could she love a man who drove so dangerously? But it had happened years ago! He didn’t seem to drive dangerously now. A bit fast, perhaps, but Gilly thought that about pretty much everyone, including Helena.

And so what if he’d done time in prison? People were allowed second chances. Of course they were. And abandoning someone you loved because they’d made a mistake in their youth was not only unkind, it was ridiculous.

As Gilly peeled potatoes she pushed away the thought that Leo hadn’t been that young when he’d nearly killed her. She’d been the mother of a university student herself. While they hadn’t ever talked about their ages she guessed he was a few years older than she was. But still! She was going to ignore everything that Helena had told her.