Outside, a dog barked on the street and she said, ‘Don’t!’ before he could say anything.

David still wasn’t denying it, though. He could have rowed back easily, pretended it was just a joke, but he didn’t. He was gazing at her, and she really didn’t know what to make of it.

‘OK,’ she said. ‘Show me. Let me see you do it.’

‘I can’t let you sit in on a session, Tara. You know it breaks client confidentiality.’

‘Well, this puts me in an awkward situation. Because, taken at face value, it sounds as if you’re suffering from a mental health condition that I’d normally have a duty of care to refer to a specialist.’

David’s phone buzzed. ‘That’s Chloe, checking in my next client,’ he said. ‘Can we … talk about this later?’

‘I think we should. When are you free today? I need to take Sybil to the vet’s at eleven and I’ve got two appointments this afternoon, three till five.’

‘Sybil?’

‘My boyfriend’s cat. She’s not very well.’

David eyed her cautiously. ‘Is she here with you now?’

‘She’s in my room in her carrier. Why?’ She paused, and a thought occurred to her. ‘Do you want to talk to her?’

‘Why not?’ He glanced down at his desk diary. ‘What are you doing after you bring her back from the vet’s?’

‘Nothing.’

‘OK,’ said David. ‘One o’clock it is. I’ll bring my sandwiches.’

‘So, where do you want her?’ Tara lifted the cat basket from under her desk and placed it on the coffee table between the sofas. ‘Does she need to be out? She’s stopped being sick. Apparently it was something she ate.’

Sybil glared out from between the bars of the basket with her usual inscrutable gaze.

‘She’s fine there, and …’ said David, then paused as if he’d been interrupted.

‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ He indicated the leather sofa where Tara’s clients normally sat. ‘Do you want to make yourself comfy over here?’

She’d started to settle herself in her usual consulting chair. ‘That’s the clients’ sofa.’

‘I know,’ said David, and indicated it again.

Tara hesitated, then moved. The sofa was softer than her chair, and she had to make an effort to sit up straight. It was a nice view: straight over to the cathedral, with the blue sky cut into paperchain peaks by the pointed roofs opposite. She’d never seen the room from this angle. The scalloped mouldings along the edge of the ceiling were rather pretty.

David settled himself on her chair. He seemed quite high up.

I need to get a lower chair, thought Tara. It’s quite intimidating from this angle.

‘So …’ He blinked a couple of times. ‘What a lovely cat. How long have you had Sybil?’