‘It’s Christianne,’ I tell him. ‘You must have heard, surely?’

‘I have. Of course I have. Is it a tragedy? Alas, yes. Am I surprised? Sadly not. I was talking to Andy early this morning. The poor man’s in a bad place. On his behalf, one can only hope, of course. It’s grand to see the police making such an effort, and here’s hoping it all pays off, but I fear she’s probably gone forever. A lovely, lovely woman. I’ll miss her like hell.’

If anyone else knows why Christianne chose to end it all, I think, then it has to be Budleigh’s distinguished ex-ambassador, not that Sir William wants to dwell on the matter.

‘Where are you just now?’ he asks brightly.

‘I’m staying with Evelyn.’

‘Pay me a visit, then. I’m just round the corner.’

This is confusing. Like most women, I have an uneasy grasp of geography, but Sir William’s pile has to be at least a mile or two away. When I check to be on the safe side, he roars with laughter.

‘I’m doing a spot of gardening on Andy’s behalf,’ he says. ‘Ask Evelyn how to get to the croquet club. They’re forecasting rain so bring a brolly.’

Evelyn supplies the directions. Andy, she says, has one of the allotments adjacent to the croquet pitch, though this is the first time she’s had Bill Penny down as a gardener. When I finally make it to the croquet club, I find him on his hands and knees beside a row of lettuces, hunting for slugs. Gardening, he readily admits, isn’t altogether his thing, but given Andy’s current situation it’s the least he can do.

We take coffee and a toasted bun in the clubhouse. By now, Sir William has emphatically become Bill. He wants to know whether I’ve seen McFaul since what he delicately calls ‘the incident’.

‘Yesterday,’ I say. ‘We spent the afternoon together.’

‘Really? Brave girl. That man can be difficult.’

That man? This doesn’t marry with Christianne’s take on their relationship.

‘I thought you two were close,’ I say lightly. ‘I thought you spent lots of time mending stiles on the coastal path.’

‘We do, we do. And what a pleasure that is. I meant difficult with the fairer sex, my dear. Andy’s a one-girl man, and I suspect he always has been. Courtly? No. Awash with politesse? Sadly not.’

‘Who cares?’ I shrug. ‘Just tell me Andy made Christianne happy.’

‘Very. He made her exceptionally happy. You know about their time in Angola?’

‘Yes.’