‘You have missed the best parts.’ He was smiling. ‘Why don’t you sit for a moment. I have time if you have.’

I sat, in one of the zebra chairs. Jojo, I think, must have sighed a little sigh of relief, for he resumed his posture on the settee, picked up his magazine.

‘I am not astonished. I just find it all pretty tacky really. It’s the same old bit of porn. Starting with the thrashing from the teacher which set him on course; he would have us believe … But how long did it go on for, that life? I know that he continued painting – there were exhibitions here and there, that much he did leave in his notes which I have here. But when did it finish? When did he get to Bargemon?’

Millar ran a hand through his still blond hair. ‘It all broke up after my mishap in Ireland at a wired “bullfinch”. After that a cloud descends. We all went our separate ways. James was really only half and half, you know? He was fascinated by it all, he longed for domination. He simply adored sex and was very, very good at it. But, truthfully, he did want a different life. It was really a kind of delayed adolescence. I used him cruelly. But when my lamp went out, James decided to quit. Aronovich suggested Bargemon. Silence, calm, beauty. And not too far away from me. Should I ever recover. You follow?’

‘Perfectly. And then?’

Millar shrugged. ‘And then? I was considered dead. He began a new life down here, with the assistance of the amiable Aronovich, and he apparently began to paint again.’

‘And the marriage?’

‘Oh that. Well, when I was able to return here, and that took a very long time, James was a fairly frequent guest. Totally changed, radiant, in love, cleansed of his earlier lusts and longings, a rebirth. One thought. And I was utterly useless. There was no further temptation, no desire. I was a faithful old crippled-father-figure. It was fine. Absolutely understandable. I was very happy that he had managed to find his, shall we say, way. And until the child was born, that unfortunate error for which he blamed himself quite brutally, I really hardly ever saw him.’

‘And after the child?’