‘Audrey was telling me on the way over that she’s got a light aircraft back home,’ Jonathan tells us.

‘It’s not all mine,’ she corrects him. ‘I own a quarter share. It is fun though. A totally different way of flying from what I do for work.’ She turns to me and smiles. ‘I bought it with the settlement from my last divorce. My ex-husband was livid when he found out, which made it all the more rewarding.’

‘Why?’ I ask.

‘Because he was both unbelievably tight financially and a total control freak. I think he thought he’d be able to dictate how I spent what he still saw as his money. So when I blew pretty much the whole lot on something he thought was frivolous and a poor investment, it fried his tiny brain. I don’t think he’d have been any more cross if I’d bet it all on a horse race.’

‘He sounds delightful,’ Jonathan observes wryly.

‘He was, when we were dating,’ she tells him. ‘His true character didn’t come out until the wedding band went on. He started putting pressure on me to hand over control of my finances to him, and got quite cross when I told him I’d managed them quite happily myself for my entire adult life and didn’t see any need to change. When he finally realised he wasn’t going to win that argument, he got almost forensic about how much I was contributing to the bills and everything. It was like being a lodger in his house, except I was expected to have sex with him. I stuck it for two years before filing for divorce. Best decision I ever made.’

Will looks at me expectantly, obviously hoping that I’ll take this as an opportunity to probe her about her intentions towards Jonathan, but there’s no way I’m going to do that while he’s in earshot, so I gently shake my head at him.

‘Right, we’re on,’ Bernard announces and, sure enough, the guy with the jerky helicopter appears to have landed it. Now that I can see it clearly, it doesn’t even look like a helicopter; it has the rotors but, beyond the basic structures to hold it together, that’s it. Bernard’s face is a mask of disdain as we watch the owner pick it up and carry it to the side. Once the field is clear, Bernard and Jonathan carry mechanical Audrey out to the area evidently designated for take-offs and landings, setting her down carefully. Jonathan continues fiddling with the helicopter and remote-control unit as Bernard makes his way back to join us.

‘Is everything OK?’ I ask him. ‘Nothing seems to be happening.’