‘But none of this is to the point. We need to get you a dress. I’ll give you two hours to paint the loo, then I’m taking you away. I know a lovely shop in Cheltenham. It’s a good thing you’ve lost a little weight recently.’

Molly had left the gallery before Thea could protest that it wasn’t a good thing. It was because she hadn’t time to eat properly during the day and was too tired to cook anything when she got home. All her calories at the moment were derived from chocolate, orange juice and the occasional portion of chips. Thea did not approve of society’s requirement that all women should be stick thin and certainly didn’t want to subscribe to it. But on the other hand it was hard not to feel just a tiny bit pleased to have dropped a dress size.

Reluctantly, two hours later to the minute, Thea handed her paint roller over to Petal’s boyfriend who had appeared simultaneously with Petal. ‘If you don’t do a good job you’ll never show here,’ she said earnestly.

‘Don’t worry, I’m an artist. I can paint.’

Thea let this pass. ‘Don’t forget, we don’t want any contrasts of texture, or experiments with perspective. We just want plain white walls.’

‘You’ve done one coat already, I’ll just go over where you’ve been.’

‘I’ll see that he does a good job,’ Petal promised. ‘Now, you just go shopping with Aunt Molly.’

Reluctantly, Thea climbed out of the boiler suit. In fact, she’d rather have finished painting the lavatory. There was something very soothing about white paint.

Once in Molly’s car, a leather-seated, power-steered automatic that had cost the equivalent of a small house, Thea felt glad to get away. Molly was a stylish driver and just now the gallery was full of noise and chaos, and the moment when she could declare it ready seemed like winning the lottery: wonderful, but very unlikely to happen.

‘I think you’ll like the shop where I’m taking you. It’s run by such a talented woman.’ Molly overtook an artic and a tractor with one swift movement. ‘She knows what suits one better than one does oneself.’

‘I’m sure it must be horrifically expensive.’

‘An investment. But I promise you she won’t let you buy anything you’re not happy with.’

The shop was terrifyingly tiny – the sort you could never go into on spec, because you’d be too embarrassed to leave without buying anything. However, once over the threshold in Molly’s company, Thea found it a pleasant space and the owner an extremely attractive woman who was fifty if she was a day. It was a huge relief. Thea might not feel she was nearly as good-looking as this elegant person, but knowing she was fifteen years younger did give her some advantage.