‘Right, let me explain.’ Sophie indicated three neatly itemized columns. ‘There is one for each of us, listing everything we have to do – and there’s a column at the end to tick when the job’s completed. I’ll make one of these for every bride we get. As soon as Nicky’s beautiful wedding becomes the envy of each bride in the Western world, we’ll need millions of them! One other thing.’ She looked serious for a moment. ‘I’ve also estimated all the costs more accurately than before. The quote covers all the elements of a château wedding – venue hire, accommodation, family dinner, wedding feast with champagne reception, hair and make-up, photography, flowers and entertainment . . .’ She named a figure.

Jo whistled. ‘That much?’

Sophie nodded. ‘At least. That’s cheap by comparison with most places. In fact, we should do more research before we launch properly. Sixty per cent of the cost of a château wedding goes on venue and catering, so it’s crucial we set the right fee for hiring the venue.’

‘Good idea,’ Meredith agreed. ‘Why don’t I make a comparison of four or five other châteaux to make sure we’re pitching it right?’

‘We need to face the tricky question of Nicky’s deposit. Normally it would have been paid months ago, so it’s way overdue even in this special case. Who’s going to remind her and Ronnie?’

Meredith sighed. ‘We can’t expect Steph to get involved, given all that’s been happening.’ She thought about it and came to a decision. ‘OK, I’ll take that on.’

‘Good luck,’ Jo acknowledged. ‘Oh, and have you heard about our local hero? Margot was bending my ear about him for hours.’

‘No, who?’ Meredith tried not to sound irritable at this distraction from the important discussion they were having.

‘Philippe, of course! He was a real hit on the radio talking about this food festival. Everyone’s raving about him, saying how good he was and what a success the festival’s going to be.’

‘Oh, right.’ Meredith wondered if the piece of land she’d agreed to rent him would be large enough. She’d assumed it was going to be little local affair. If it was going to be big, it might also turn out to be a headache, with much more hassle and clearing up.

She glanced down at her phone to find a message from Philippe himself. No doubt he wanted to talk about the festival, fresh from his hit on the radio, and she felt a flash of irritation. She didn’t want it to start taking up a lot of her time when she had the wedding to concentrate on. Sophie’s chart had had the effect of crystallizing her mind.

When the others had gone back to their various tasks, Meredith wandered out onto the terrace and returned his call.