I tell her how wonderful Harry has been, as my agent. My mother remarks how attentive Harry is, for an agent. I recount the night at The Tricycle Club – again, the filtered version. She says it doesn’t sound like I romantically threw myself at him at all. ‘You asked him to dance, dear. I’m quite sure the poor chap has no idea you meant anything more by it. And with all this business, he must be wondering what’s really going on with you and Jordan. Talk to him, Grace. What have you got to lose?’

My dignity, for starters. What is it they say a woman should never do – oh yeah, chase a man. If Harry were to reject me when I make perfectly clear that I like him as more than my agent and friend, I’d be crushed. I’m not brave enough to try.

‘Mummy, it’ll be complicated even if it works, because we have to work together.’

‘I don’t know that I agree with that,’ my mother says. ‘But it sounds like you’ve got enough on your plate to deal with right now. So in any event, something to park for later.’

She is dismayed to learn Faith and I have fallen out.

‘Is there a chance, dear, you feel Faith is stepping on your toes? From what you’ve told me, your nose could be a bit out of joint?’

The tinge of jealousy I’d felt. My mother is, of course, spot on.

‘Mummy, it’s Faith who says her nose is big.’ My incredibly juvenile response, prompting my mother to sigh down the line. ‘But, of course, she’s perfectly beautiful.’ She is. Faith is perfect and beautiful, in every sense. She’s amazing. ‘I don’t want to take anything away from Faith, Mummy. I just… don’t always want to be me. And now I don’t know how to unwind how awful I’ve been. She’s my best friend. I can’t believe we’re not even talking.’

‘Oh, Grace. Dear. I’m going to tell you something I’ve not mentioned before. I almost left your father once, when you were a baby,’ my mother says. ‘I was an older mother, as you know, and you came as a complete surprise. I loved you to bits, but I wasn’t coping. These days, they call it postnatal depression, but back then, it wasn’t talked about. Everyone just got on with things. Beryl was the only person who even noticed.’

‘Beryl?’ I’m unable to hide my shock.