Thea watched Rory make Petal wish she’d put on make-up. ‘No biscuits,’ he said, ‘but would you like a drink? Irish whiskey, it would make a dead man get up and walk.’

‘Not a good idea on an empty stomach, Petal,’ said Thea.

Petal, having basked in the warmth of Rory’s charm for a few seconds, got out her mobile phone, possibly to report this to somebody, before remembering it wouldn’t work.

‘Why don’t we all go off down to the pub?’ said Rory who, amused by Petal and interested by what Ben had said, had become a lot more welcoming. Molly he would charm when he had a couple of seconds to spare.

‘You can’t!’ Thea objected, ‘Your dog’s having puppies. I don’t mind not going to the pub, but I’m not going to have Lara’s puppies by myself.’

‘Puppies.’ Petal brightened up. Then she realised what Thea had said. ‘You mean, actually having them? Oh, yuk!’ She looked defiantly at Molly, obviously about to accuse her of dragging her across Ireland to be grossed-out by puppy birth, when she remembered it was Molly, not Thea or her mother, and therefore she couldn’t be rude.

‘Low blood sugar level,’ said Thea, relenting somewhat. ‘I heard about it on Woman’s Hour. Come and find something to eat, Petal.’ Petal was enough of a handful when she was cheerful.

‘It’s so not fair!’ Petal said the minute they were through the archway to the kitchen. ‘I did want to come because home is crap at the moment, with no one there to look after us, and Piers dumped me –’ There was a pause and Thea realised this was a first. ‘And I didn’t want to go out when I was single, because everyone would know.’

Thea’s heart softened and she put a spoonful of pudding in a bowl. ‘Well, you’ll have to go out some time, or you’ll never get another boyfriend.’

‘I know,’ said Petal, with her mouth full. ‘But I do think they might have told me that my phone wouldn’t work in Ireland.’

‘I don’t suppose Molly’s very phone aware.’ Thea suddenly found herself on Petal’s side. ‘Otherwise they’d have rung and told me they were coming.’

‘Oh, they did try, only the code was wrong or something and they couldn’t get through.’

A muttered curse from Rory told Thea that something was going on in the sitting room. She left Petal with the pudding and went to see.

Molly was looking tired and horror-struck both at once, Rory seemed impatient and Ben Jonson was squatting down by Lara. Toby held on to his shoulder.

‘Is she all right?’ asked Thea.

‘She’s fine, but the first puppy is going to appear at any moment.’

‘How do you know?’ demanded Thea. ‘Have you had them before?’