Jo and Sophie suddenly materialized out of the crowd. They slid their arms through hers. ‘Come on, Merry,’ they announced, sensing that this was a moment for some moral support. ‘Time to get back to the château for a glass of fizz!’

‘What a complete bitch!’ Jo’s venom had been sharpened by the news from her neighbour of bumping into Mark and Amanda poncing about as a newly married couple. ‘How bloody dare she?’ Jo fulminated. ‘That woman Lucille thinking she can walk back into their lives after fifteen years just because she’s lonely!’

Even the beauty and peace of sitting out on the terrace outside the orangery, looking down at the silver river, couldn’t calm Jo’s indignation.

‘How do you know she’s lonely?’ enquired Sophie.

‘No one volunteers for a charity unless they’re lonely.’

‘Mum!’ Sophie tutted. ‘You can’t go around saying things like that.’

‘Why not, if it’s true?’

‘You don’t know it’s true.’

‘Well, let’s see what happens next, shall we?’ Jo persisted.

‘Let’s just talk about the wedding, shall we?’ Sophie tried to steer the subject away from Philippe and Lucille, guessing how painful it must be for Meredith. But before they could return to the subject of Nicky’s wedding, there was rap on the ornate glass window of the orangery. Sophie went to see who it was.

‘Evening, girls,’ Steph greeted them all. ‘What glorious weather. You all look a bit glum. Don’t tell me Nicky’s cancelled the wedding?’

‘Nothing so drastic,’ Sophie replied. ‘We’ll tell you about it another time.’

‘Thank God for that. I’ve had my mother on the phone non-stop asking me what I think of different recipes for the cake!’ She got out her bag – the very one from Debenhams, as it happened, that David preferred to the Birkin. ‘There!’ She produced a page torn out of a women’s magazine. ‘My mother doesn’t hold with the internet. She thinks it’s run by robots with malicious intentions.’

‘Granted Jeff Bezos looks a bit like an extra from Star Trek, but that’s a bit harsh,’ giggled Jo.