‘Most of it – bugger!’ A lager can caught his shoulder. ‘Who ever told me that Milton St John was the peaceful heart of rural England should be sued under the bloody Trade Descriptions Act! I really think you should get out of here.’

‘I’m not leaving Suzy. And why didn’t you make your presence known earlier?’

‘Because I didn’t think you’d want to see me. After all, according to you I’m only interested in you as a dalliance while my wife’s away.’

‘It came out wrong. That wasn’t what I meant – oh, help!’ A little knot of scufflers bowled into them, bounced off, and splashed into the stream.

Drew fastened his hand round her wrist and was tugging her towards the road. ‘Maybe we can talk about it later. Not now. We’ll be arrested if we stay here.’

The police were hauling dripping villagers out of the stream and shoving them into the back of cars. Maddy wriggled in his grasp. She wasn’t leaving without Suzy.

‘Have you seen Stacey?’ Peter loomed up out of the crowd, still managing to look cool and elegant despite the fracas raging around him. ‘We seem to have lost her, and Diana and Gareth.’

Drew tightened his grip on Maddy. She frowned at them both, then pointed at the stream. ‘They were all in there just now – and no, I didn’t push them. Just what the hell did you think you were doing, Peter? You could have prevented this, couldn’t you?’

‘Not this,’ Peter said. ‘I didn’t think it would turn out like this. But, yes, of course I knew that the golf course wouldn’t be a problem to the village. Nobody listened.’

‘Because you deliberately didn’t tell anyone. You just loved seeing them getting all stirred up and Bronwyn making a fool of herself, didn’t you?’

‘It was rather amusing, yes.’ Peter’s smile was so smug that Maddy longed to smack his face. He shrugged. ‘I did try to tell you, though. I didn’t want you to be mixed up in this. I sent you a note. I tried phoning. I asked Stacey to get you to speak to me. You didn’t bother. And then –’

‘And then when we did come face to face – or rather face to buttock – you weren’t really in any position to discuss anything, were you?’

Peter glared at Maddy, and then at Drew who beamed back innocently and merely tightened his grip on Maddy’s hand. Suddenly, completely overwhelmed by desire, she leaned against him. Peter looked murderous.

Maddy shook her head. ‘You were always a manipulative bastard, Peter. Maybe you would have told me, but I doubt it. You like to see people making fools of themselves. You’ve probably broken Bronwyn’s heart by withholding that information until the last minute.’

‘She should have checked. You’re all so gullible.’