‘And then I realized, I think I got this wrong.’ Matthew laughs, but it is an authentically despairing sound. ‘I told DB, No, this is about me cutting things off with her. And the idea that I’d “assaulted” Amber was, well, I couldn’t even take that in. Is there any world in which she might have honestly thought that? How could she strip off her underwear, seduce me, and then call it an assault? But of course I’d said all those things to her. I’d aimed to destroy that idea, that I loved her, and I’d done it while we were having sex with each other. It seems like an insane idea.’

‘We all do stupid things under pressure.’

‘I swear at the time I thought, This is what I have to do to make her see.

‘I called her, after I spoke with DB and after I’d talked to Antonia. I told Amber, Look, I’m sorry for how I was. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted you to see that I’m not in love. It’s never going to work the way you wanted it to work. And I told her that I was weak and I bitterly regretted how I’d gone about things, but that I hoped maybe in time we’d find a way through it to be friends. She listened to me, she said that she got it and she accepted my apology and that was the end of it. She said she couldn’t imagine wanting to be my friend. I said I understood but that I hoped one day that would change. And I meant it.

‘And then we were off to Cannes. And I thought, God, I have a mountain to climb to mend fences with lovely old DB and my darling wife, who deserves so much better than an email from … But if I can do that, and maybe put in a quiet word for Amber somewhere where she won’t know it was me, maybe I can begin to dig myself out and learn from this. And Cannes is such a bubble. And this time it was you who was the star attraction. You’re so talented.’

Becky bows her head and blushes at the compliment.