Meredith, who was pinning table plans to a blackboard, stopped to look, opened her mouth to point out the drawbacks to this positioning, then shut it again, knowing the reaction she would get.

Ronnie looked at her watch and screeched.

‘I must get upstairs and change!’

‘Aren’t you going to help Nicky with her dress?’ Meredith couldn’t resist asking. ‘Mother of the bride and all that? After all,’ she added, deadpan, ‘you’ve even got it written on your wrap.’

‘I suppose I ought to,’ Ronnie replied. ‘But I’ll just go and change first.’

‘And I thought I was the selfish type,’ shrugged Meredith. ‘I’m in a different league.’

She was interrupted in her musings by the arrival of Sophie holding a giant cardboard box. ‘This has just arrived for Nicky. Do you think I should take it up?’

‘Absolutely. How else will we know what’s in it?’ She Blu-tacked another set of table plans to a display board and took it out to the entrance hall, where all the guests would be arriving. Finding out where you were sitting was always a number one social preoccupation, in her experience.

In fact, Nicky was grateful she had her sister dancing attendance instead of her mother.

Lara was gazing admiringly at Nicky’s newly made-up face. ‘You look absolutely ravishing, O sister mine. Like you, only better, if you know what I mean.’

Nicky couldn’t help laughing, even though that horrible Emma’s words were still reverberating painfully round her brain and threatening to spoil this longed-for moment. Perhaps she should have gone and got rid of her herself. But she wanted it to be Martin who sent her packing.

‘Thank you,’ she said to the make-up artist. ‘I couldn’t have had a better compliment than that. I don’t wear a lot of make-up normally and I was terrified of ending up looking like someone else!’

‘Shall I get the dress?’ Lara asked, handing them both a glass of champagne. ‘Or would you rather I tried to dig up Mum?’

‘Knowing Mum, she’ll be far too busy making herself look fabulous to bother with me.’

Nicky opened her arms, and Lara hugged her as tight as bridal hair and make-up would allow. ‘Thank God we’ve got each other,’ they chorused in a familiar refrain.

‘And soon you’ll have a husband to love you and watch your back, you lucky thing!’

Nicky held her sister even tighter. ‘I will, won’t I?’

‘OK, bride-to-be. I think it’s the moment for the dress.’

As if on cue the door opened and they both turned, expecting Ronnie.

‘Auntie Steph!’ they beamed. ‘How lovely to see you.’

‘Well, I wasn’t missing this for the world. Where’s on earth’s your mother?’

‘Our mother,’ announced Lara with more than a shade of bitterness, ‘is too busy getting ready herself to honour us with her presence.’