‘Not unless they’re purple,’ Steph replied. ‘It looks like some sort of purple statue. And it seems to be buzzing. What on earth is it?’

As if on cue, the dog dropped the object and it began to snake across the floor, buzzing loudly.

The ghastly truth dawning on her, Jo began to pursue it, but it was Liam who had the presence of mind to put out his foot and halt its progress. He bent down and picked it up, trying to suppress a look of unholy amusement.

‘Oh my God,’ Steph giggled, ‘it’s a vibrator! Whose is it, and how do you turn it off?’

Liam quietly examined the device, clearly fascinated by the rabbit’s ears, which vibrated separately to give the owner maximum satisfaction. ‘No wonder men can’t compete with these,’ he grinned as he expertly detected the switch and turned it off. He then placed it calmly on the table without passing any further comment, as if silencing vibrators were part of his everyday routine.

‘Thanks, Liam.’ Jo attempted neither to blush nor faint while she fervently wished she were anywhere else in the world but here. How pathetic he would think her! Reduced to having sex with a vibrator! ‘It rejoices in the name of a Happy Rabbit. A gift from my friend Liz, who lives next door. It appealed to her sense of humour and I promise I’ve never used it.’ Why the hell had she said that? It just made her look even more stupid. ‘She slipped it into my luggage, for which I will happily kill her when I get back.’

But Steph had descended into hysterical giggles. ‘I’ve just thought of the perfect murder for Killing Eve! She could stuff it down someone’s throat and everyone would think he’d died happy!’

At which point Liam quietly said goodbye, leaving Jo entirely convinced she’d never hear from him again.

‘God, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen,’ Steph stated unfeelingly.

Meredith, aware that Jo really was upset, reached over to her. ‘Here, you’ve got a rose behind your ear.’ She handed it to her friend. ‘If you ask me, he was amused rather than horrified. In fact, he seemed like a really nice guy.’

Jo smiled at her gratefully.

‘Come on – it’s at times like these we need a nice glass of Bergerac rosé. And from tomorrow, you and I had better do some serious thinking about weddings!’

‘Bonsoir, Grand-père,’ Jean-Christophe greeted his grandfather, Antoine. ‘Would you like to watch some TV?’ He turned on the giant screen. The news channel came on first, with an interviewer and three politicians.

‘When will le Géneral be on?’ enquired Antoine hopefully.

‘He doesn’t mean de Gaulle?’ Jean-Christophe whispered to his father so that Antoine couldn’t hear him.