‘Friendship sometimes involves a bit of interfering. Look, I’ll have to consult the others, but I’ll let you know as soon as I can.’ Meredith held out her hand. ‘And thank you, on behalf of my friend Steph. Though if she knew about it, she’d probably kill us!’

‘Have that woman Suzi working for us here?’ Sophie’s face was a picture of horror. ‘I thought next to Margot she was your arch-enemy!’

Meredith burst out laughing. ‘You make me sound like a character in Agatha Christie! As if I’ve got wax dolls of Jackie and Margot to stick pins in.’

‘And Suzi!’ Jo added. ‘Don’t forget Suzi!’

‘Well, I haven’t,’ Meredith insisted. ‘Now listen to the deal Jackie’s proposing and see what you think.’

They both listened patiently.

‘OK, let me see if I’ve got this right. The lawyer says the tax was wrongly charged and they can claim a rebate; and Jackie says she’ll write their debt off and convince Steph it was her fault, that she accidentally overcharged them,’ Jo paraphrased. ‘Won’t that sound a bit suspicious? I mean – they built a swimming pool and spent too much money on it. How could that just be a mistake?’

‘You don’t know Jackie. She’ll manage. Lucrezia Borgia could take lessons from her. The difference is, she’s got a good heart.’

‘And she thinks this will mean Fleur-de-Lis will be saved and David will go back to Steph and everything will be happy ever after?’ Jo enquired drily.

‘What happens if we take Suzi on and David doesn’t comply with Jackie’s plan?’ countered Sophie.

Meredith thought. ‘Then we’ll have to sack Suzi. I’m sure we’ll be able to find a reason.’

No one said anything for a moment, and then Jo spoke up.

‘Speaking as someone who’s been royally dumped – sorry, Soph, he’s your dad after all . . .’ Her throat closed up with emotion and she had to stop for a moment. ‘I think it’s worth a try. I don’t think David’s like Mark, though God knows he’s behaved badly enough. But we’ve all seen how Steph behaved to him. Sometimes I had to leave the room, it was so painful to watch. So you see, the difficulty in all this is Steph herself. I’m prepared to give Suzi a go for Steph’s sake, and because I don’t want her to suffer any more than she has to. But how are we going to solve the problem of Steph herself?’

‘Oh, Mum,’ Sophie launched herself bodily at her mother and held her in a breathless embrace. ‘You are amazing. I think the only person who could help Steph is you. On the other hand, you’re hurting as well and it’s an awful lot to ask.’