In the event, obviously, I didn’t tell Amanda where she could get off. Or where she could stick her memorial service. Or in any way hold my nerve or defend my corner. She won hands down. She was ready for me, naturally. Armed and dangerous, with a half-drunk bottle of Chablis and a whole heap of bitterness. I’d parked in Tregunter Road, where I knew there to be meters, and walked, too casually in retrospect, still fresh from my not unpleasant morning, down the expensive street where she lived. The pavements were squeaky with money and I marvelled, quietly, at being back here. Tall, white stucco mansions, one of which housed the top-floor flat in which she lived, were fronted by immaculate gardens encased with black iron railings. Filipino housekeepers were watering pots full of hyacinths and spring bedding, and one emerged with a baby in a pram. I turned the corner and walked down Hollywood Road towards the smart, bustling restaurant, joining a few people arriving at the door, wrapped up in coats and scarves against this sudden dip in temperature, rubbing their hands cheerfully and commenting on it. I joined in the discussion, lulled by a sweet French woman’s smile and her expression of horror at the unpredictability of the British weather.

I saw her first. She was poised at a corner table in the window, her back to the wall. I made my way across with a nervous smile. She looked incredibly glamorous as she always did: stick-thin, her hair very blonde and smooth, freshly blown dry by someone else’s hand, and tucked under her chin, like a helmet. She was wearing a beautiful dusky pink tailored jacket, a silky cream shirt, and lots of expensive jewellery. Her lips were thin but thick with lipstick. She extended them in a smile and gave a dinky little wave of her fingers in a faux friendly gesture, but I knew better. It was all in the eyes. They were over-bright and glittering. She meant business. This was her moment. Amanda didn’t have a job because she didn’t have to work, and aside from lunches with other rich women, she had plenty of leisure time. The moment I saw her face I realized she’d been thinking this through for weeks and that I was woefully under-prepared.