‘Infidelity is about so much more than sex, Ruby,’ Amber counselled, topping up our glasses. ‘People have affairs because they don’t feel appreciated. They feel neglected, or ignored, and crave intimacy. They enjoy the feeling of being wanted, needed, desired. Harry may have been looking for an emotional connection, someone to open up to. Now you know that, it could be the very thing that fixes your marriage.’

‘Amber’s right, Rubes. Listen to your older, wiser sisters. This doctor thing, running away and all, is a very bad idea.’

‘It’s all Kev’s fault.’ Amber wiped tears from her eyes. ‘You’re spiralling down a rabbit hole like Alice in Wonderland. None of this is real.’

‘Neither of you are in love, so you can’t understand,’ I sulked.

‘Okay,’ Emerald said, ‘I admit that it’s better to be in love than, say, in a fatal car crash or an iron lung. But it’s just as painful. Nothing good can come of this, Ruby. Better to end it now.’

‘Emerald’s right. It’s nothing more than a mirage.’

Amber constantly agreeing with Emerald seemed more surreal than anything I was saying. ‘Marriage is the mirage,’ I retaliated. ‘I thought I had a happy marriage. I thought we had a good sex life. I know now it was dull and perfunctory. Yes, we talked during sex, but only to ask when he was going to hang the shower curtain or pop to the shops to buy a new pool sweep. I thought my husband loved me as much as I loved him. But we’ve been away for nearly three weeks now and not one bloody word. We’re just joined together in holy acrimony.’

‘Look, keep calm when I say this, Ruby, darling, but maybe Harry’s still coming to terms with the shock of . . . Kev,’ Amber whispered, sombrely.

The only way I could keep calm about ‘Kev’ was to undergo a lobotomy – but, come to think of it, I’d already had that, the moment I lied to my sisters. Perhaps I’d been sleep-walking and doing sit-ups underneath stationary vehicles that day, I thought darkly, but said, instead –

‘Look, just say you contracted cancer tomorrow. What would you regret? Not the things you’ve done, but the things you haven’t done. Right? It sounds trite, I know. But I don’t want to die before I’ve learnt how to live.’

‘That is trite. Who are you?’ Emerald asked, perplexed.

‘Trite, but true. Why not live every day as though it’s your last? That’s what I’m trying to do. Which is why I’m not going back to my old life. Clearly my husband has moved on.’

‘Forgive Harry, Rubes. The Anglo-Saxon attitude to infidelity is so unforgiving. We need to think like Europeans and not drive couples to divorce, causing kids to suffer. What about Zoe and Jake?’