It didn’t take her long to unearth Sam’s details, because she’d transferred them from the card he’d given her to her phone. Half an hour later they were sitting across the road from the lawyer’s office in a quiet cafe, and Meredith wasted no time in calling him.

At first she only got through to his bossy assistant, but Meredith was skilled in the art of getting past bossy assistants. It only took the name of her company, plus the hint of an opportunity that the Sibyl of St Louis would hate to miss, and she found herself talking to the sibyl himself.

‘Sam! Good morning. I hope it isn’t too early for you but I remembered you start famously early, and I’m afraid I just told a white lie to your assistant,’ Meredith told him gaily. ‘I’m not in Shanghai but south-west France – the town of Bratenac, to be precise. Not to beat about the bush, Sam, I’ve made an offer for the Château of St Savarin, only to discover that you did the same and pulled out. I’d like to know why? Am I making a stupid mistake?’

Sam Andrews’ throaty laugh reverberated merrily across three thousand miles. ‘Not unless you’ve just been offered another château belonging to famous ballerina Louie Worth and all the remodelling’s already been done, so you can move straight in and start business right away!’

‘But Sam, you must have lost a lot of money pulling out! Surely the Sibyl of St Louis wouldn’t approve of that?’ she teased.

‘Maybe not, but his wife did,’ was his humourous reply. ‘And I have to say, I would have loved to have seen the look on the duchess’s face when we told her. If looks could kill, I imagine I’d be six feet under.’

‘Sam, I have a little favour to ask . . .’

‘You want a copy of all the documentation to speed up the slow wheels of château-buying?’

Meredith laughed delightedly. ‘I can see doing business with you would be terrific fun. Almost makes me wish I wasn’t giving it up.’

‘To do what?’

‘Hold glorious weddings at the château, of course.’

‘I wish you great good luck! Of course, you’ll now be a rival of my wife’s. To be frank, I’d be happy if she abandoned the whole idea. It looks as if I won’t see her during the wedding season unless I move in too – and I don’t think I could stand all the bridal nonsense. Why women want to make all this fuss over weddings, I’ll never understand. Men would just head off to City Hall.’

‘Come on, Sam,’ Meredith teased. ‘Where did you get married yourself?’

‘The fourth or fifth time?’ he quipped back.

‘Now, Sam, I know you’re famous for having the same wife and living in the same place your entire life.’