She replied: ‘Thanks so much, really appreciate it. A’ And then without thinking, she sent the photo and the message: ‘I’m all set!’

And then the worst possible response. A series of dots… a series of dots… a series of dots… and then nothing.

She wished she could roll back time. Now she was whizzing on her way to Paris, away from her children, away from Ted, who didn’t seem to listen to a word she said when she repeated the children’s routines, and away from Mr Hough and a very embarrassing text message.

She wondered what Mr Hough was up to now. Was he in the staff room, wincing and telling the other teachers about tragic Mrs Astor? He’d have to explain they’d exchanged numbers – entirely innocent, since there was a constant barrage of forms and assessments relating to Charlotte and her application for an Education, Health and Care Plan, but which would be frowned upon, nonetheless.

Could she mention it to the girls? Would Nina tell Ted? She doubted it, Nina had become too therapised to breach a confidence like that. But what if she thought she owed it to Ted? Or owed it to herself to not have to carry the weight of the secret? She stole a surreptitious glance at Nina. Carefree, happy, successful Nina. She envied her, she realised. Envied her freedom, her independence. Envied, if she were being really honest, the way Ted spoke about her. Had always spoken about her, but especially recently, La City Pâtisserie on track to be a hugely successful strategic investment for his firm. All the more galling since it was Alice’s idea that he invest in it. She had to talk him into it, talk both of them into it. And it was going better than any of them could have predicted, and all the times Ted seemed in awe of Nina, Alice felt herself shrink back a little bit more in comparison.

‘How’s your new business going?’ Nina asked, catching her eye, and the way she said it – so respectful and sincere, as if Alice’s business was any match for her own – made Alice’s heart catch. She felt so seen when she was with Jules and Nina. It had always been this way. She wasn’t just a mum to them now, wasn’t just a posh deb then. She was Alice and that meant something. She resisted the urge to groan aloud. To throw her head back down on the table and cry, That’s a total mess too!

‘It’s not really going,’ she said instead, purposely not looking towards Jules. ‘It’s been so hard to find the time. I need to work on my portfolio, finish my website, post more on social media…’

‘The photos of Elliott Mantel’s place looked amazing!’ Nina enthused.

Beside her, Jules said nothing, no doubt racking her brains for something positive to say to make Alice feel better, and Alice felt the weight of the silence.

‘Hmm,’ she murmured vaguely, trying to think of a way to divert the conversation to something new, but her mind had become fogged with hot disappointment.