Ingrid said, ‘I’m sorry, you’ll find me very direct, but in my view it’s much better for us all to know where we stand. Now we’ve got all that out of the way, I don’t want any of you to give Paula and her daughter another thought. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind holding off mentioning all this to Mark, for now? He’s bound to be stressed after the awful time he’s had getting here, and there’s no point spoiling his lunch. It’s not as if I get to see him all that often. He does his best, of course, and he’s very good about phoning. But he’s so busy all the time.’

‘I suppose I could talk to him about it later,’ Mum said.

‘I do think that might be best. Just let him know I’ve filled you in. It’ll be an enormous relief to him. I know he’s been very worried about it. Whether you would find out, what you would think, when and how to tell you and so on. Not that he really had any reason to worry. After all, it’s not as if he’s done anything wrong.’

Suddenly Ellie piped up in a thin little voice: ‘Did they used to do operations here?’

It seemed like an inoffensive thing to want to know, except somehow anything Ellie asked had an edge to it. Ingrid responded by staring accusingly at Mum, as if she must have let something inappropriate out of the bag for Ellie to think of asking such a thing.

‘I have to say, I don’t think this is a very suitable subject for conversation,’ she said. ‘But yes, on occasion, they did. If you want the grisly details, I suggest you ask your mother later.’

Ellie folded her arms and went quiet. I said, ‘Does Paula know that Mark is getting married again?’

I couldn’t imagine that Paula would exactly be happy for us when she found out, however unfaithful she’d been to Mark. After all, it would surely be a kick in the teeth for her ex-husband to marry again so quickly after their divorce, no matter how unsatisfactory the marriage had been… Especially if his bride-to-be was someone he’d slept with when he was still married to Paula. And then had a child with.

Perhaps Paula didn’t know about that? After all, Mark hadn’t told us about Daisy. Maybe he hadn’t told Paula about me.

But if Paula did know…

Well, she wouldn’t exactly be planning to send the happy couple something nice for a wedding present, would she? She wouldn’t be wanting to send them anything nice at all.

Ingrid raised her glass of sherry to her lips, finished it, and slowly and thoughtfully set it down.

‘I suppose you have a point. Paula ought to know,’ she said.

‘Perhaps Mark should handle it,’ Mum suggested.

‘Please, Jenny, don’t concern yourself,’ Ingrid said sharply. ‘I don’t want Mark to be concerned, either. You’ve got much more important things to think about. Like your wedding. I’m so pleased that you’re going to get all that sorted sooner rather than later and I quite agree that under the circumstances, a simple registry office ceremony is all that’s required, but still, there are things to think about, aren’t there? Not to mention setting up home together, and finding new schools for the children and all of that. And you’ll need to wind up your hairdressing business.’