Ameerah laughed and made to elbow her, but Nory sidestepped and she missed. Dev meandered up the corridor, whistling. He smiled when he saw them.

“It’s all starting to get a bit explosive around here,” he said.

“Don’t you mean expletive?” Nory asked, just in time for Jenna’s voice to ring down the hall: “Where the fuck is my fucking tiara?”

Dev winced. “I say we take a walk down to the village, grab a couple of papers, and hole up in the White Hart until the school tour,” he suggested.

“That sounds perfect,” said Ameerah. And again, Nory couldn’t help noticing the way her eyes seemed to come alive when she was around Dev. She hoped her friend wouldn’t wave goodbye to someone she really liked because of a silly pact she’d made with herself when she was a teenager.

“Fancy joining us, Nory?” he asked. “You’re very welcome.”

“Thanks, but I’ve got somewhere to be. You enjoy yourselves, and I’ll see you later up at the school.”

Nory left it as long as she could before she knocked on Charles and Jenna’s bedroom door. Pippa opened it and arched an eyebrow. Jenna was sitting cross-legged on a four-poster that made the one in Nory’s room look like a child’s bed. She had the most enormous rollers Nory had ever seen in her hair and was verbally losing her shit down the phone to someone, who didn’t appear to be answering back. Charles was standing next to the en suite, looking nervous.

“Welcome to the bridezilla suite,” Pippa drawled serenely, as though she were not in charge of organizing an entire wedding and managing a medium-freaked Jenna. “I have to go downstairs and tell some people what to do. Don’t mention Juliet Finnegan.”

Nory was confused. “The one who plays the barmaid in Days and Nights?”

Pippa nodded infinitesimally and widened her eyes in a way that warned Keep your voice down!

Nory brought it down to a whisper. “Why would I be likely to mention her name?”

“Don’t you read the gossip columns?”

Nory shrugged.

“Juliet Finnegan just announced her engagement!”

“So?”

“The day before Jenna’s wedding! Talk about thunder stealing. The bride-to-be is not taking it well.”

Nory was suddenly barged out of the way by a woman swinging a Gucci handbag, who strode into the room wearing stilettos so skinny they left dents in the carpet.

“This is a clear act of aggression on Juliet’s part, darling,” she snapped. “I’ve created merry hell with her agent. She’s got Prima and Heat covering, but we’ve still got Grazia, Cosmo, and Woman and Home. Is OK! here yet?”

“That’s Prue, Jenna’s publicist,” Pippa said quietly into Nory’s ear.