‘After all that,’ he added, with a sigh.

‘How do you feel about it?’ Geraldine asked.

As she took a seat facing him across his desk, she did her best to conceal her elation, knowing she would no longer have to share Ian with his ex-wife. Only their past connected them now.

‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘Confused. I mean, I’m relieved of course, but a small part of me, a very small part, is bitterly disappointed. Can you believe that? It would have been awkward and complicated but –’ he broke off and heaved a sigh. ‘It’s not as if I ever wanted to have a child, but… anyway,’ he went on more briskly, ‘I’ve had a lucky escape.’

‘What’s Bev going to do now?’

He shook his head. ‘I haven’t told her yet. I wanted to tell you first. But hopefully the father of her baby will take her back once he knows the baby’s his.’

‘Assuming the man she was having an affair with is the father.’

‘Whatever happens, and whoever the father is, I’m not responsible for her baby, or for her. To be honest, I want to wash my hands of the whole affair, and never see her or think about her again. We were married once, but it’s over, bar the formalities of finalising the divorce. There’s no reason why we should ever have anything to do with one another again. I’m free.’

Geraldine was watching him carefully as he spoke. ‘You don’t look very pleased about it. Are you sure it’s over?’

‘If you mean the relationship between me and Bev, then yes. Absolutely. I couldn’t be more certain. You of all people should know that. But – well, I thought I might be – I thought I was a father. Bev told me categorically that the child was mine. Geraldine, I thought I had a son! That’s something, isn’t it? It’s a huge deal. And now I discover she was lying, just because she wanted to come back to me. I suppose she thought my job was better paid and more secure than his. I’ll get a good pension. That would have interested her, especially now she has a child to consider.’ He pulled a face. ‘I can’t say I blame her altogether.’