‘Oh, it’s here, in the utility room. Just open the door and it’ll stop and you can get them out,’ said the girl casually, unaware how badly Thea wanted to get into her clothes, damp or not. She put in her hand and felt the clothes as they stopped. ‘Another ten minutes or so I’d say. Sit down and drink your wine. Ben’ll be back in a minute anyway, and he might give you a gin and tonic or something before supper. He’s gone to get some things from the 8 till Late.’

Supper. That sounded terribly like a meal, terribly as if Ben was planning that they should slug it out over a salmon en croute after Toby was in bed. Not long ago – yesterday, even – this would have sounded lovely, she and Ben alone, with no distractions. Now it seemed like torture. Ben would be calm and logical, and explain he’d acted in Thea’s best interests, and she would weep with frustration and possibly attack him with a fish knife. No, she couldn’t let it happen.

She debated putting on her clothes as they were and making a run for it, while the nanny was still wiping the perfectly clean worktop with a perfectly clean cloth. But Thea badly needed to know if Rory had said anything before he’d gone. No, however unpleasant, some sort of confrontation with Ben was essential.

Toby had gone upstairs to play on his computer, having assured Thea that his bedtime wasn’t yet and that Dad wouldn’t mind. Thea, dressed and made-up with the nanny’s emergency supply, planned what to say to Ben.

She tried to look surprised when he arrived in the kitchen, although she’d heard him come in, talk to Toby and come downstairs.

‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I’ve bought some supper.’

‘Nice for you.’ Don’t be rude, Thea. If you’re rude he’ll guess how much you care. Keep it calm, polite and unemotional.

‘I hope it’s nice for you, too.’

‘Well, I think that’s unlikely, don’t you?’ Good resolutions abandoned, Thea turned on him. ‘Do you really think it’s possible for me to sit opposite you and chat as if nothing had happened? As if your wife hadn’t purloined Rory, just before he was going to show with me? Where is he, by the way? Did he tell you?’

‘Thea, I do wish you’d give me a chance to explain a few things, before you let your imagination go completely haywire.’

‘What things would those be? Like why you watched me, helped me even, set up an art gallery when you knew from the beginning Rory wasn’t going to show there? Was that why you were so keen on me setting up a graduate show?’

‘Could we eat first? I’m starving and I’m sure you are too.’

‘No, we couldn’t. Tell me!’