Those with small children began to drift off first, back to their rooms in the hotel and the pubs down in Hartmead. By eleven thirty, only the die-hards remained. To Nory’s surprise, the cast of Days and Nights were not the party animals she’d expected at all, and most had been gone by half past ten, shortly followed by the OK! photographer.

Eventually only the shits-and-giggles gang remained. They had retired to the atrium, which had large, comfy sofas surrounding a crackling open fire, all except Guy, who had been hoofed up the stairs to bed by Jeremy and Charles.

Aside from Pippa, who sat closest to the fire, her long legs tucked neatly beneath her, they were all in couples. Katie rested her head on Jeremy’s shoulder, his arm around her, an expression of deep peace on his face. Jenna had her head in Charles’s lap, her tiara on the rug, her long gown spilling across the sofa in a waterfall of silk. Ameerah and Dev sat practically on top of each other, their legs in a comfortable tangle, each of them looking as though they had just won the top prize in a raffle. Isaac had his arm loosely around Nory’s shoulder, by turns stroking her hair and running the tips of his fingers up and down the back of her neck. She could feel him smiling as he watched the goose bumps break out across her arms at his touch. His other hand held hers, and she idly brushed the work-roughened tips of his fingers as they talked. She loved this feeling of being close to him, of being with him.

“I’m so exhausted, I could sleep for a week,” yawned Jenna.

“You’re exhausted?” Pippa arched an eyebrow. “All you had to do was turn up, darling.”

Jenna lifted her head and poked her tongue out at Pippa.

“Everyone knows you don’t get tired, Pip, you’re a machine,” teased Charles.

“It is true. As humans go, I am very effective,” Pippa replied.

“And modest,” added Nory.

“Self-deprecating,” Ameerah threw in.

“Society does quite enough of that for women over thirty,” said Pippa. “Especially single women. I don’t need to add to it.”

“Hear, hear,” agreed Katie. “In my profession, modesty about your expertise is taken to be weakness. If I want the same respect as men in the field, I have to adopt the same arrogance and self-confidence that men have.”

“That’s a bit unfair,” said Charles. “I wouldn’t describe myself as arrogant.”

“It’s not a personal attack,” said Katie placatingly. “It’s conditioning. Men are as much a victim of it as women. It starts in the nursery. Girls are conditioned to be self-deprecating . . .”

“Nobody likes a big-headed girl,” Nory added.