‘Pas champagne?’ She sounded as if a sacrilege were being committed. ‘Quel grippe-sous alors!’

‘It is not to save money. The suggestion was mine,’ Liam insisted quietly but forcefully. ‘For the sake of our vineyard. Besides, it is delicious.’

Margot looked round at the dining table behind her, laid for tonight’s dinner. ‘Quite a small affair, I see. How many are invited to the wedding?’

‘Madame la duchesse,’ Liam bowed, but with a twinkle in his eye. He would actually quite like to lose his temper at the old trout, but that would help no one. ‘We are good friends, you and I, and for the sake of that friendship, let us not talk of the wedding. By now the duke will be missing you.’ He reached under the table for the bottles cooling in plastic containers full of ice. ‘Please, take a bottle of crémant and enjoy it together.’

Margot looked back at him levelly. He could see she longed to say: ‘Young man, I own the château.’ But of course, this was no longer true. ‘What a kind gesture,’ she replied eventually. ‘But it would be even kinder if you gave me two.’

Liam handed over a second bottle and laughed as he watched her depart. Fortunately for the world, Margot was one of a kind.

For her part, rather than be grateful for the free wine, Margot walked slowly back home pondering whether she could think of any ways to discreetly sabotage the wedding.

‘I wonder if anyone’s been able to rescue the cake?’ Nicky’s grandmother asked anxiously as she joined the others for the pre-dinner wine tasting in the orangery.

‘Do you want me to find out, Gran?’ Nicky was still smiling after her tour with Sophie taking in the wedding pavilion where they would exchange their vows, the terrace where the round tables would be laid, the spot for the string quartet. The dancing was planned to take place under the stars, next to the salon so that they could relocate if the weather changed.

‘I’ll go.’ Sophie jumped up.

‘Why don’t I?’ Meredith suggested to Sophie. ‘You’re running yourself ragged! Sit down with a nice glass of wine for a moment.’

‘Not till I find out when Ronnie intends to do those damn flowers!’ Sophie whispered back. ‘There’s a whole dungeon full of them.’

Bill and Maureen came down to join them. In marked contrast to his ex-wife, Bill seemed to be an amiable, tolerant man who didn’t like attracting attention to himself. Maureen was one of those cosy, motherly women who got their clothes in M&S and had long ago decided that comfort was more important than chic.