In the rare luxury of the taxi back to Bratenac, paid for by the radio station, Philippe got out his phone and called his son.

‘Could you hold the fort at the restaurant next Friday or Saturday if I’m otherwise engaged?’ he asked, being careful to keep the excitement he was feeling out of his voice.

‘Aha,’ Jean-Christophe replied, in a knowing tone that made Philippe want to clip him round the ear, ‘and let me guess where you will be going. Flushed with the success of your radio debut, are you finally inviting the châtelaine of St Savarin to dine?’

‘Ta gueule!’ replied Philippe good-humouredly. ‘I think I preferred you before you came out of your shell!’

Instantly he realized his mistake as he imagined a shadow passing over his son’s handsome face. At his mother’s departure Jean-Christophe had changed from happy to tongue-tied; it had taken all of Philippe’s skill and energy to coax him back into confidence over the years. A process that, to his delight, had accelerated since they had arrived in Bratenac.

‘So where are you taking the lady?’

‘Nowhere in Bratenac, that’s for sure,’ Philippe laughed. ‘Certainly not to the Café de la Paix, where all those British busybodies gather!’ He almost added, ‘Why don’t you follow my example and invite out the lovely Sophie?’ but fortunately he had the good sense to see how insensitive that would be. If he wanted to, Jean-Christophe would get round to it in his own time.

The British busybodies were, in fact, at that moment gathered round the bar of the cafe, having just listened to Philippe’s interview at the insistence of Guillaume.

‘Wasn’t he wonderful?’ Shirley pronounced breathlessly. ‘So caring about his father.’

‘I thought he sounded really sexy,’ pronounced Janine, trying to persuade a particularly overweight basset hound to get off her foot. ‘That Françoise woman was flirting with him as if they were in some online chat room!’

‘And you would know, Janine,’ slipped in Mandy slyIy, then quickly changed the subject. ‘Is that why you called us all here, Jackie? Because I’m going to be late for this lunch I’m catering if I don’t go soon.’

‘Ladies of the Luncheon Club,’ Jackie announced portentously, ‘it is not. I summoned you here to this special meeting with only one thing on the agenda. How are we going to get David Adams away from Suzi and back to his lawful wedded wife?’

‘Gosh,’ Janine replied. ‘Isn’t that rather a Victorian attitude?’

The others quaked at this outbreak of revolution in the ranks.

‘No, it is not. I am a great believer in marriage, especially long marriages where you have negotiated tough times together, and particularly when I happen to like the parties involved.’

‘And also because some little bitch pinched your first husband,’ murmured Janine mutinously.