He raised the glass to her, mockery in his eyes. She clattered the glass against her teeth, spilling whisky on her fingers. Surreptitiously, she tried to lick it off. Drew noticed and laughed. ‘For a cleaner – and an educated cleaner, at that – you really are the messiest person I’ve ever met.’

‘Really?’ She glared at him over the rim of the glass. The malt was already stealing warmth into her toes. ‘Is this going to be a brutal appraisal of my strengths and weaknesses all of a sudden?’

‘No.’ Drew shook his damp dark hair so that it feathered towards his eyes. Maddy wanted to touch it so badly that she had to look away. ‘But you are. Messy. And stubborn. And so bloody irritating sometimes.’

‘So are you,’ she retorted, and immediately wished she hadn’t. He could now add childish and unoriginal too.

‘Did Caroline tell you about the divorce?’

‘Yes.’ The criticisms still rankled. ‘She said you’d left her. I suppose Angie –’

‘It had nothing to do with Angie. I should have done it a long time ago. I know you didn’t want me to, but I knew it would happen. Caroline and I couldn’t go on the way we were. This way we’ll both retain some dignity – and our friendship. Caroline seemed to accept it with her usual sangfroid, and both sets of solicitors are agreed that the split will be relatively painless.’ He gave a mocking grin. ‘To be honest, it won’t be all that different.’

‘Except you’ll be free.’

‘Oh, yes. There is that.’

They sat in silence, drinking, not looking at each other. The thunder crashed overhead, the lightning still poked invasive fingers through the drapes, but it held no threat now.

‘Is that why you and Angie were celebrating today? Your freedom?’

‘No.’

Bugger, Maddy thought. He wasn’t going to talk about her. It must be serious. Oh well, she’d have to get used to it. Living across the road, she’d have to see them together all the time. The prospect filled her with such intense pain that she felt faint. She took another gulp of whisky and turned her head. His face was still, his features thrown into sharp relief by the flickering candles. Her heart turned over.

‘Why didn’t she stay tonight?’

‘Why?’ The eyebrows rose slightly. The eyes didn’t soften.

‘Oh, I just wondered. I mean, you’d been together all day, and you knew all about the divorce. I thought –’

‘Angie’s staying in Lambourn with Owen and Jessie Green. The trainers.’

‘Oh.’ It didn’t make a lot of sense. ‘But she said she’d be living in Milton St John. I heard her.’

‘Yes, she did.’ Drew drained his glass and stood up for a refill. ‘Do you want some more?’

‘No thanks. I’ll be too squiffy to move.’