‘His wife?’ Jo felt a jolt of surprise that he hadn’t mentioned this. Poor man. Would that be better or worse than her own situation? At least he hadn’t been replaced by someone else. She suddenly felt ashamed at making the comparison. ‘I see. Well, thanks for the advice, Margot, but my intentions aren’t even clear to myself.’ That wasn’t true, she realized as she said it.

To her relief, Nelly chose that moment to run into the kitchen and offer an appealing paw to Margot, whose response was to scream and drop her coffee cup, managing to scald Jo in the process.

‘Merde, alors, this dog is wild and dribbling. I think it has the rabies!’ she accused.

Nelly looked at her sadly.

‘That’s just Nelly,’ Jo assured her. ‘She dribbles a lot, but she’s the most gentle animal.’

‘I think it is time I left,’ Margot insisted hastily. ‘Before it bites me. I cannot afford to have the rabies just when I must be strong for my poor husband.’ She adopted a noble expression which almost had Jo in fits.

‘Goodbye, then, Margot. Thanks for the advice.’

At last Margot departed, leaving behind a cloud of Guerlain’s Shalimar and a faint whiff of Gauloise, a heady mix that Jo imagined was rather how a Parisian brothel might smell.

Meredith arrived in the kitchen moments later to make herself a coffee. She sniffed the air. ‘That wasn’t Margot, by any chance?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘Who else wears half a bottle of Shalimar before breakfast?’ Jo replied.

‘The old witch. Snooping around, I suppose. What did she have to say?’

But at this Jo became curiously evasive. ‘I must get back to my list of potential caterers,’ she announced briskly. ‘Most of the websites offer clients a choice of four for their weddings. Any news from Steph on the niece front?’

‘Good, apparently. They want to come and see the château.’

Steph herself turned up half an hour later. ‘My sister Veronica and her daughter Nicola want to come and meet everyone, if that’s all right with you all,’ she announced.

‘Of course. All brides do that,’ Jo agreed. ‘I’m sure Soph will be fine with it too. Where is she, by the way?’

‘Talking to Steve the builder about which shade of eau de nil among about two dozen options is the right one for the new dining room,’ Meredith replied. ‘She’s good at that.’

Jo grinned at them. ‘It is exciting, isn’t it? Starting this whole new life running a château!’