Not caring that it wasn’t yet eight a.m. she called Carola and told her what had happened with Ona last night.

‘Oh, no!’ Carola gasped. ‘I hope everything’s OK with the baby.’

‘So do I,’ agreed Lily. ‘Max is the link that brought us all to Switzerland so I hate to think of anything bad happening to his family.’ She paused before adding tentatively, ‘Thing is, I don’t want to be in their way and now it’s down to me to drive I’m looking at the weather forecast and it’s due to begin snowing again at lunchtime. Heavily.’

Carola made a considering noise. ‘I can imagine that’s a worry. I’m really sorry all the driving has fallen on you.’ After a hesitation, she sighed. ‘Actually, we had a drama of our own yesterday evening. Duncan, my ex, has been calling the girls so much recently that they’ve remarked on it. We got a call last night to say he and his girlfriend are splitting up.’

Lily thought how that would seem to two teenaged girls. ‘So they feel as if he chucked everything away for no good reason?’

Carola gave a short laugh. ‘They haven’t said that but … He says he’s really, really missing them and the girlfriend was always difficult about it or he would have seen them more …’ Carola’s voice shook. ‘He destroyed our family for a woman who doesn’t like him seeing his own children. He was always aloof, always working too much, but now he’s feeling sorry for himself and says he wants to move back to live nearer the girls.’

‘That’s certainly a change of heart.’ Lily hadn’t met Duncan very often as the girls usually visited him in London but she’d heard plenty from Carola over the past couple of years. Duncan had been pretty callous in the way he’d left his family when he’d fallen for somebody else three years ago.

‘There’s more to it,’ sniffed Carola. ‘Apparently his contract in London isn’t being renewed, which is a huge shock. Most of his money went into joint accounts with his girlfriend and “until we’re sorted out” she’s whisked it away into accounts in her name alone.’

‘Can she even do that?’ demanded Lily, scandalised.

‘Well, she’s done it, apparently. Act first, argue through solicitors later seems to be her strategy. Duncan had already moved out to stay with some colleague in Havering when she did it so he’s in a bit of a spot.’

As Carola paused, Lily asked cautiously, ‘You’re not going to let him move back in?’