‘I wish I could. But anyone can see that Tilly’s nothing like Cass, Will. If you let your experience with her hold you back, then she’s still controlling you. Is that what you want?’

‘No, but⁠—’

‘You two have been dancing around each other pretty much from the moment Tilly first set foot in this house. Now that everything’s out in the open, there’s nothing to hold you back.’

A lump forms in my throat. Everything isn’t out in the open, but do I actually need to tell Will about my disastrous relationship with Luke? It’s in the past, but I feel I want to be totally honest with him and, as we all seem to be speaking our minds today, maybe now is the time.

‘Actually, Jonathan, there is something else Will and I ought to talk about,’ I begin carefully. ‘Can we borrow your workshop again, please?’

‘By all means. Just don’t touch anything, especially Audrey.’

* * *

‘What an absolute bastard.’ Will’s face is a mask of outrage. ‘To be honest, I’m just as cross with his mother. Fancy putting you through that. Sadistic old bat.’

I’ve held nothing back, including the meeting with Cindy, and I’m almost amused that this is the part of the story that Will has latched on to most strongly.

‘I think she believed it was the only way to get him to confront reality.’

‘Bollocks. She was manipulating the situation to cause maximum distress to everyone involved. Who wins in a situation like that? You came out of it completely humiliated, as did Cindy. She should have just told you he was married and warned you off, like a normal person would.’

‘But then he’d have got away with it.’

‘Maybe, maybe not. But that wasn’t your problem, was it? His relationship with his wife was nothing to do with you. The evil mother should have given you the choice about how you ended things with him, not stuck her nose in and set up some kind of Agatha Christie-style unmasking.’

‘What if he’d just moved on to someone else though? I’d have felt responsible, knowing that I could have done more to stop him.’

Will sighs. ‘Someone like that isn’t going to stop, that’s the reality. I’m no psychologist, but the way he tried to gaslight his way out of it shows that he’s never going to accept any responsibility. Which is another reason I’m so angry with his mother. She must have known what he was like and how he was going to react. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced she set the whole thing up just for a bit of entertainment.’

‘Bit harsh, Will.’

‘Didn’t you think it was weird?’