Fenella dismissed this idea. ‘Oh no, she says she’s too old for California. A little light shopping in New York is fine, but Dermot has an American agent as well as an agent for his film rights, so he doesn’t need her.’ She took a breath. ‘Does the thought of ringing her horrify you? You never know with her. Sometimes her ideas are terrific, but sometimes they’re just mad. She suggested that Rupes and I went crocodile-hunting for our honeymoon.’

Laura giggled. Bless Fenella, she was going to miss her. ‘I’ll give her a ring. There’s no harm in finding out what she has in mind. And I’ll call Grant as soon as I’ve done that. Finding a flat will be so much easier, thanks to Jacob Stone’s bonus.’

‘Well, ring Eleanora first,’ said Fenella.

‘Darling!’ said Eleanora, when at last Laura was put through. ‘Come to lunch tomorrow. There’s someone I want you to meet.’

‘Um . . .’ This could mean anything from a nearly blind date to a job opportunity. As Fenella had said, Eleanora was capable of anything.

‘The Grove, at twelve-thirty. That OK? Trains fit in? Don’t try and drive, darling. There’s nowhere to park.’

Laura rang Eleanora’s office a few minutes after this brief phone call to find the address of the restaurant. Eleanora’s advice to Laura not to drive was unnecessary; the thought of a five-hour drive twice in one day made her feel weak. Add lunch with Eleanora and she’d be on her knees.

‘You don’t know what she’s got in mind, do you?’ Laura asked Fenella while the three of them huddled down one end of the kitchen table and ate tinned tomato soup with white bread.

‘Not a clue,’ said Fenella. ‘But she was fantastically impressed by all you did with the festival. Maybe she wants you to run another one.’

‘Let me get over this one first. I—’

‘Hey!’ Rupert shouted. ‘Look at this! There’s a full-page article about us!’

Instantly they were all jostling to read it.

‘And it’s not just about Dermot!’ said Fenella proudly, when she’d read a bit. ‘Listen. Somerby is to festivals as those delightful boutique hotels are to big chains. Add a literary star who seemed to have dropped out of the firmament to the mix and you have something really special.’

Laura grabbed the paper now. ‘We need to buy lots of copies and make a scrapbook. Other papers might have articles too. It’ll be so good for next year. We can put extracts in the brochure.’ She felt herself brightening despite her heartache.

‘I’m so glad there’s going to be a next year,’ said Rupert, patting Laura’s shoulder. ‘As long as you run it for us.’

Laura laughed. ‘And in the meantime, I’ve got Eleanora!’

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-One