‘Why?’

‘Because we can’t let him get away with it.’

‘As you wish.’ Kate didn’t doubt her former friend’s political skills. She was one of the great survivors, after all. But she wasn’t about to launch a leadership challenge so soon after losing her battle against James Ryan for the premiership.

Imogen hovered. ‘I’m sorry, Kate. I really don’t like to see you this way and I know I . . .’ She smiled again and made her exit. What else, Kate supposed, was there to say?

Kate drained her own glass and went up to lie on her bed while she waited for the children to come in. It was strange to feel dog-tired, but not at all like sleeping, as if she were being hollowed out from within.

It was a shade after eleven when she heard the door go. Neither Fiona nor Gus bothered to come and say goodnight, so she had to haul herself off her bed to do so. She went to Gus first. He’d flopped face down on to his mattress. ‘How was today?’

‘Fine.’

‘Long journey back?’

‘It was fine.’

‘How was Fiona?’

‘Fine.’

‘You all okay for tomorrow?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I have to go away for a couple of days, so Rose said she’d be here.’

‘I know.’

‘Will you be fine?’

‘Yeah.’

Kate allowed herself a smile as she kissed his head. She moved on to her daughter’s room. Fiona was lying in bed, staring at her phone. ‘You’d sleep better if you didn’t look at that all night, you know.’

‘Because you’re the expert.’

Kate smiled again. Perhaps it was despair. ‘I have to go away for a few days—’

‘I know. Rose said. I’m staying with Jed this week.’

Kate recognized the incendiary device for what it was, but trod on it anyway. ‘You can’t do that, love.’

‘Er, actually, I can.’

‘This is your home. You can’t just leave.’

‘I’m going to Jed’s house. Not Moscow or Beijing, or the moon. His parents are both doctors. I’m fairly sure I’ll come to no harm. I’ll be back by the time you finally get home anyway, so you’ll hardly notice the difference.’

‘But it isn’t really fair to leave Gus here on his—’

‘He won’t notice either. Whenever he crawls out of whatever gaming hole he chooses to occupy this week, Rose will be there to spoil him. He’ll be like a pig in shit.’

Kate was tempted to go on, but, for once, discretion got the better of her. Fiona was right: Jed’s parents were responsible people and she was unlikely to come to any harm.

She retreated, without kissing her daughter goodnight, took Nelson down the road for a night-time pee – he didn’t bother – then came back to bed. She took 15mg of her sleeping drug of choice, zopiclone – double her normal dose – and lay down to stare at the ceiling until chemistry finally overwhelmed her worried mind and gave her at least a few hours of fretful sleep.