‘I wouldn’t have minded them telling the world I was a drunken slob, because that was true enough. But they liked my work well enough before I got drunk. The work didn’t change because I’d a few too many – OK, a lot too many. Now, what about you?’

She chuckled gently. ‘I’m afraid my story hasn’t got a happy ending either.’

‘Oh, God, do you need another drink.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not that bad although it isn’t very much more cheerful. I was a photographer, just making my name, getting enough commissions to pay the mortgage and justify having an accountant.’

‘What sort of work did you do?’

‘I was a photojournalist, really. I took shots of famous people, sometimes I went abroad. I was just getting somewhere when – well, the shit happened.’

‘What sort of shit?’

She took a breath. She really didn’t like telling people this story, it made her feel so stupid. ‘I had a boyfriend – a journo I’d met out in Africa. I thought he was a hero, risking his life to bring the stories of the oppressed to the world and I thought we were… well, you know. I was about to sell my flat and move in with him –’

‘And? He cheated on you?’

‘Yes, though not with a woman.’

‘Oh, my God! A man!’

Although these memories were still tender Thea had to laugh. ‘How like a man to think you can only betray people with sex.’

He accepted her censure with a twinkle. ‘How, then?’

‘He stole something from me, an image, and tried to sell it and use it without my permission.’

‘Would that have been the end of the world?’

‘Yes. It was a very … a very sensitive one. I was only allowed to take it because the clients trusted me and it wasn’t for the general public to see.’

‘And he didn’t give you the money?’

‘Honestly! Sex, money, isn’t there anything else in the world that’s important to you?’

‘Sorry. So he didn’t take the money and run off with another woman?’

‘You’re not taking this seriously! This is my life story, my sordid past, the reason I’m the embittered woman you see today –’

‘You don’t look embittered.’ His tone implied that she looked something a great deal more pleasant, but she ignored it. This was no time to be distracted. ‘So if he didn’t take your money, or cheat on you, what was the problem?’

Thea sighed. She’d never been able to convince Conrad it was because he had tried to sell her honour that she was so furious. ‘It was him selling – or trying to sell – something so private to people with the morals of tomcats and fewer scruples. He just disregarded the fact that it was my integrity that was on the line.’

Rory frowned, trying to understand. ‘So what was the picture of?’