Laura sent him regular emails explaining all this, begging for him to let his name be announced and, just as regularly, he emailed back saying no.

‘We’ll have a summit meeting,’ announced Fenella, when one morning Laura had gone over to the big house and broken the bad news yet again.

‘What? With Jacob Stone and Eleanora or Trisha, and that lot?’ Laura was a bit startled. Although so much of the festival was going well, she was feeling a bit of a failure about this and didn’t want to have to explain herself to all those people.

‘Oh no.’ Fenella made a dismissive gesture. ‘No, I meant with useful, fun people, like Sarah and Hugo – he’s Sarah’s other half. Maybe Grant and Monica?’

Rupert came into the kitchen and moved the kettle across to the hotplate. ‘Great if you want a party, otherwise better keep it small. Why don’t you just ask Hugo and Sarah? We’ll come up with something. When are you doing this course with Dermot, anyway?’

‘Quite soon. End of the month.’

‘That’s only two weeks away!’ said Fenella. ‘Well, he must let us use his name by then, surely!’

‘Even if he does, it’s almost too late, publicity wise,’ said Rupert. ‘Bloody Irishmen! Always have to be so bloody mysterious.’

‘Rupert! You’re half-Irish yourself, don’t forget, and Irishmen aren’t always – oh my God!’ Fenella paused, enlightenment dawning. ‘I’ve cracked it! We don’t need a summit meeting!’

‘What?’ asked Laura and Rupert simultaneously, watching as Fenella pushed her fingers into her hair, searched for a pen and generally became like an ant when its nest has been exposed.

‘We’ll make a thing of it!’ she said, flourishing her pen and finding a pad to write on. ‘We’ll refer to our “mystery guest”! We’ll prime all the literary press that the mystery guest will be announced at a certain time—’

‘But will they think our mystery guest worth all that tra-la?’ asked Rupert. ‘Any mystery guest, come to that?’

‘They would if they knew who he was,’ said Fenella.

‘But they don’t!’ said Laura. ‘They mustn’t! Until Dermot OKs it, anyway!’ She was terrified that Fenella might ignore Dermot’s desire for privacy for the sake of the festival. Truthfully, she wouldn’t be able to blame her if she did, but Laura’s loyalties were with Dermot.

‘We’ll leave heavy hints!’ said Fenella. ‘We’ll get Eleanora to take all the relevant people out the lunch. The gossip columnists, the Bookseller, all the important mags. It’ll be great!’

‘It could work,’ said Rupert.