Now Alice was taking her more seriously. ‘Tell them to bugger right off!’

‘It’s not that simple.’ Kes adored Granddad and Nana Forsyth – who he’d recently taken to calling ‘Grandforce’ and ‘Nanaforce’ like superheroes – and Pax had no desire to poison that bond. All this was affecting him deeply. And while she found it maddening that her in-laws were policing the five-year-old with strident overkill, she realised they represented much-needed stability. Added to which, Pax’s personal history made treading on eggshells the only way forwards. ‘I don’t want a fight, Lisp.’

‘We’re an old military family, we all fight. Good idea to set up temporary base camp at the stud. You sit pretty and keep an eye on Mummy until she pushes off.’

‘Mack’s parents insist Kes being here is a health and safety risk,’ Pax told Alice. ‘The trouble is, he’s totally unafraid of horses. The moment my back’s turned he’s in with the yearlings or cosying up to a mare in foal. But he’s stayed with me in the cottage just one night since coming back from Scotland.’

In what appeared to be a well-planned coup, Muir and Mairi had called round first thing the following morning to offer to ‘take our wee man to his favourite wildlife park’ while Pax helped on the yard. Twelve hours later, after leaving a stack of panicked messages and driving back and forth between the Comptons, their locked bungalow and a deserted Mack Shack, Pax finally received a call to say Kes had enjoyed a wonderful day and was fast asleep in their box room, so best he stayed there. It had established a pattern; another Forsyth family jaunt took place the next day. Today’s outing was on a steam train. They were maxing out the Tesco vouchers.

‘For God’s sake don’t let Mother put Kes on a pony,’ said Alice. ‘We’ll never get rid of her if she thinks he’s the next family protégé. When does he go back to pre-prep? That’ll square things up.’

‘Next week, in theory, but Mack’s told them Kes isn’t returning.’ He and the headmaster were exchanging increasingly angry emails, with Pax caught between, loyalties torn. While Kes had yet to settle happily in the tough, old-fashioned little school at which Reception pupils were hardened off with cross-country runs and choir practice, Mack’s proposal was far worse. ‘The Forsyths are already packing to go back to Scotland, saying he’ll be educated there.’

‘Apply for whatever emergency hearing one does to get a custody ruling in these situations.’ Alice was straight to the practical solution. ‘Tell them Mack wallops you if you have to; everyone knows he’s a thug; I’ll back you up.’

Pax watched the puppy curled up warmly against her, innocent in sleep, his slim grey-whiskered face folded in his huge paws.

‘Mack’s never hit me, Lisp.’ Bullies like her husband broke spirits, not bones, all too often shrouded in I’m-doing-this-for-your-own-good morality. ‘It won’t come to that,’ she said, closing her eyes and praying. ‘It’s typical hot air, like telling me I’m fired from the business. Our life and our work are still here. Mack can bang on all he likes about Scottish divorce laws making it hard for me to bleed him dry; right now, all I’m asking for is a simple separation agreement naming our son’s primary residency with me.’