‘Good.’ He prised the half-empty tumbler from her fingers and refilled it with his own, then sat beside her again. ‘Yes, Angie will be moving into the village. That’s why she’s here. House hunting.’

‘She won’t be living with you, then?’ Maddy’s heart was breaking. The tight knot of sorrow that had lived beneath her ribs for weeks, now threatened to rise up and choke her. ‘Oh, no, I suppose not. Caroline said it was a two-year separation. I suppose you can’t really live openly together.’

Drew shook his head. ‘Maddy, shut up.’

‘No, I bloody won’t. She looked down into her lap. Her dressing gown had fallen open and she wriggled its fat towelling edges together. ‘Why is Angie looking for a separate house?’

‘Oh, God.’ Drew sighed. ‘I wish you hadn’t done that with your robe. I like looking at your thighs. I suppose Charlie does, too.’

‘I doubt it. They’re like sausages.’

‘I like sausages.’

Maddy’s stomach dissolved with lust, and clutching the whisky with one hand, she edged away from him. Obviously gaining his freedom had made him aware how much time he had to recapture. He laughed and she glared at him again.

‘You were saying about Angie?’

‘No I wasn’t. You were. I was saying about Charlie. Have you seen a lot of him? No, let me rephrase that. Knowing Charlie, you must have seen all of him.’

‘Don’t be disgusting! He took me out a few times while you were – I mean, during the summer. We didn’t do more than kiss goodnight. Unlike you and Angie, no doubt.’

‘Angie’s surname is Mitchell.’

‘Oh good. You’re going to tell me her shoe size and her dress size and her preference in breakfast cereals, too, are you?’

‘I’m going to slap you if you don’t stop babbling.’

She sneaked a quick look at him from beneath her lashes. He didn’t look as though he would hit her or any woman. Still, you could never tell …

‘Angie is married to Perry Mitchell.’

‘Good God, Drew!’ she exploded. ‘A married woman! I thought –’

‘Oh, Christ.’ He sighed again. ‘Perry Mitchell. He was Champion Jockey three years running. He’s been riding in Hong Kong and the States for a couple of years. He wants to come back to the UK. That’s why I was in America. I’ve offered him a job as my stable jockey for the flat horses. He accepted last week. Angie flew over with me to look for a house for when he arrives at the end of the season.’

‘Oh.’ Slowly, the reality dawned. Maddy, all inhibitions swept away by the whisky, began to grin. ‘So you and Angie aren’t …?’