‘He went to stay with Jackie’s friend, Suzi. Mad bird, if you ask me. And a bit desperate, like. I always kept well away from her, to be quite frank. Jackie thought you should know he’s moved out of her place. He’s gone to a hotel in town.’ He looked at them all nervously. ‘Would you mind not telling Jacks that I told you, you know, about her not wanting me to?’

‘Our lips will be sealed,’ Meredith promised, trying to keep a straight face.

‘Me and my ladder’ll be off then. I’m glad you like the rooms. And cheers for the drink. Call me any time for jobs that need doing, no matter how small. Since you’re new here you probably don’t know that French builders all stop for the summer, but being from Bradford, my lads keep going.’

‘We will,’ promised Sophie. ‘Lucky we found you!’

They waited till he’d gone and then looked at each other. ‘Right.’ Meredith took control as usual. ‘What are we going to do with that information?’

Sophie suddenly reached out a hand to her mother. ‘Mum, what do you think? You’ve been married to a man who was unfaithful. Should we tell her he’s left Suzi?’

‘I’m not sure it is the same, though,’ Meredith intervened. ‘I saw them together, there’s no getting away from that, and she was obviously after him. But he told me they hadn’t slept together and that he was giving her up.’

‘Men in that position often lie,’ said Jo after a moment’s hesitation. ‘Mark told me that Amanda was just a colleague!’

‘Oh, Mum.’ Sophie squeezed her hand. ‘I thought you were feeling better.’

With an immense effort, Jo forced herself to smile. ‘I am. Don’t worry, darling. I really am. Of course we should tell Steph. It’s up to her what she does with the information after that.’

‘Bloody love,’ shrugged Meredith, thinking about the reappearance of Lucille and the impact it was having on her and Philippe. ‘You can never get away from it!’

‘I know.’ Jo reached out her other hand to her friend, feeling suddenly light-hearted. ‘But what would we do without it?’

At Fleur-de-Lis, Steph finished tidying the kitchen after the guests’ breakfast and sighed. She was furious with herself because the truth was, she missed David like hell. On one level it was practical – she’d had no idea quite how much her husband had quietly taken off her shoulders – but it was more than that. She missed the closeness, the unspoken communication in a thousand small ways. The truth was, life with David had been a more enjoyable, richer experience.

She tried to remind herself of the reasons she’d chucked him out, but somehow they didn’t seem so important now. ‘What are you?’ she attempted to ask herself, ‘a pathetic doormat who puts up with anything?’