Another time he sighed and whispered, ‘This one coming in now is the biggest bore in all London – no, all England.’ But none of that feeling showed when he was talking to the man in question. Which made Megan wonder again whether she would know if Ben were telling her the truth or not. She hoped she would. Oh, if only this evening would end! She was exhausted!

Then a woman behind them asked another whether Cynthia knew about this marriage and Ben stiffened. As he swung round and glared at the speaker, the woman took a step backwards and hastily changed the subject.

Megan took a sip of wine, trying hard not to feel jealous, but she couldn’t help wondering what this Cynthia was like. She wasn’t going to ask about her, though. Certainly not! Besides, they’d probably never meet if the Berevics lived in Sydney. And Louisa said the affair had been brief and was long over.

The last guests started to take their leave. Megan shook their hands, feeling quite numb with fatigue. Her aunt and uncle had gone yawning up to their room half an hour previously and Louisa Griffen had followed shortly afterwards.

A parting suggestion from one man made Ben’s smile go glassy and Megan blush.

‘Sorry about that,’ Ben said.

Around them the waiters started clearing up in earnest.

Ben smiled. ‘I’m exhausted! And you look as if you’ve been awake for three nights. But I think it went well. We’ve done our duty and now we can think of ourselves.’

‘I don’t know how you can stay alert with so little sleep.’

He put his arm round her. ‘Its anticipation that’s keeping me awake. Come on, wife! Time to retire to my lair. I mean to have my wicked way with you at last.’

She tried to smile, wishing she could recapture the passion of their embrace that morning. Was it only that morning? It seemed like aeons ago.

In their suite she took a quick shower and put on the brand-new black lace nightdress that went with the negligée, a nightdress far more provocative than anything she would have chosen herself. She smoothed it out in front of the bathroom mirror, feeling suddenly shy of appearing before him like this, then took a deep breath and went back into the bedroom.

Ben whistled appreciatively and on his way into the bathroom stopped to run a fingertip across the tops of her breasts. ‘Beautiful! This might just be the shortest shower on record, Mrs Saunders.’

She got into bed and lay waiting for him, her stomach churning and her throat dry. She wasn’t sure he’d appreciate her inexperience as a lover. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes because the lights were hurting them.