‘They didn’t have any of their own, so they passed the problem on to me,’ she replied. ‘That’s why I’m in Europe. I’m slowly dragging myself to my mother’s house for Christmas. She has a whitewashed castle on a cliff in Portugal. The place is stunning; it’s just the owner who’s a problem. She’s a selfish bitch and the main reason I decided never to have children.’

‘Uh-huh,’ said Francis, who was not concentrating properly. He really ought to tell Hope to go back to the Park and not visit him again.

‘Do you want to come in for a cup of tea?’ he asked.

‘I’d love that,’ said Hope.

He was reminded again of a zombie ant. Hope had clearly taken control of his language centres and made him say the opposite of what he intended. He must fight back.

‘Are those what I think they are?’ said Hope, stepping out of her shoes and discarding her jacket on the sofa.

‘Yes, if you think they’re magic mushrooms,’ said Francis.

‘Let’s take some now.’

‘I don’t think that would be a good idea,’ said Francis, tilting the guard to throw more logs on the fire, ‘but I have some for you to take back to George and Emma. I’ll go and get them and make some tea.’

‘It’s so cosy here,’ said Hope, sitting sideways across the armchair and stretching her feet towards the rekindled flames.

Francis went into the kitchen and filled the battered, cream-coloured kettle that had amused Olivia on her first visit, a relic with a thick nozzle and a whistle. He put it on the hob and lit the gas, feeling that his polite but cool replies to Hope showed that he was getting on top of the Cordyceps Californica that was attempting to commandeer his mind and body. He dropped a teabag into the pot and put it on the tray with two mugs. There was still time to make this into an affectionate but decisive de-escalation of their charged and potentially destructive relationship. They had kissed, it was true, but not to have kissed would have been frankly hostile. He could still police the riot she had started by touching him. It was difficult for him to be on the side of the truncheons, the shields and the tear gas, but it would be vandalism to be on any other side. He loved Olivia and her family, and he was preparing to love their child. On this occasion, being a man meant stepping firmly away from his virility.