It would only strike me later, when I mulled over the conversation that evening, what a strange phrase this was. A strange response to a question that had not even been asked. I can assure you that Alice is quite innocent in all of this. As if blame should be apportioned in one way or another. Alice is quite innocent.

‘You know what, Beth?’ I said. ‘We’re the victims here: you and me. We’re the ones who have been let down, lied to, cheated.’

She took another sip of wine and nodded, eventually.

‘But there must have been signs that it was coming,’ she said quietly. ‘I should have been a better wife, made him happy, made him content so he didn’t need anyone else. So he didn’t cheat on me with my best friend.’

‘It’s not your fault. Don’t punish yourself.’

‘It’s just that he did his thing – and we live very well off it, thank you very much – and I did mine. I looked after Alice and took care of the house and the building projects, I had my hobbies, the gym and my am-dram and my work for the PTA. I kept myself busy and I thought everything was hunky-dory.’

‘That’s what I thought about me and Mel, too.’

‘I just want him back. Nothing else matters.’

It occurred to me that not once had she said – not once – that she would kick Ben out. Not once had she suggested she would get the locks changed, cut up his favourite suits, put one of his cars on eBay with a reserve price of 99p. She had not said she would talk to a solicitor, or think about starting divorce proceedings. He had betrayed her, broken his marriage vows to her, humiliated her, but since her fury on Sunday all the fight seemed to have gone out of her.

Of course I had not done any of those things either – but hers seemed an abject surrender, and it made me immensely sorry for her.

I had never really been close to Beth before, never seen her as someone separate from her husband. She had always been in his shadow, always the calm perfection by his side. But now, at her lowest ebb, I saw her for what she really was: a kind, decent, forgiving woman who had never asked for much, and had certainly not asked for this.

She was hurting, and lonely.

‘You’ll have Ben back, then? Back here?’

She nodded. She had very clear, green eyes, I noticed for the first time. She was an attractive woman – beautiful, intelligent, kind – but there was much more to her than that. There was a vulnerability about her, an openness, a lack of cynicism, that was very appealing. I wanted to protect her, make sure she wasn’t hurt again.

‘I’m going to find him, Beth. And I’m going to send him back to you.’