‘Oh,’ she said, completely flummoxed. ‘But why?’

‘Why not?’

‘Because … because you’ve always been Auntie Geraldine and Uncle Brian. I can’t picture the two of you any other way.’

Geraldine tutted. ‘That’s the feeblest reason to stay married I’ve ever heard.’

A terrible thought occurred to Willow. ‘He hasn’t been having an affair, has he?’

‘Good Lord no! Mind you, I might have more respect for him if he had. It would at least show he has some get-up-and-go in him.’

Willow couldn’t help but feel sorry for Uncle Brian. ‘Is he very upset?’ she asked.

‘I wouldn’t know. He’s hopeless at expressing himself.’

About to ask if he had been given the chance to express himself, Willow remembered why she’d rung. ‘Is Mum there?’ she asked.

‘No, she’s next door with Lover-Boy.’

‘With who?’

‘With whom?’ Geraldine corrected her. ‘And she’s with Ellis, of course. That’s what I called him back in the day when they—’ Geraldine broke off abruptly. ‘Well, that’s all water under the bridge. Nothing we need discuss now. Would you like me to ask your mother to ring you?’

‘No. Well yes, if she wants to. But the important thing is to tell her Martha is stuck in the lift at her office building, but there’s nothing to worry about, help is on the way.’

‘If there’s nothing to worry about, why have you telephoned with a message which will only cause your mother to do just that?’

Once again Willow was flummoxed. ‘Well … I just thought it was the kind of thing Mum would want to be told. You know, what with Martha being pregnant.’

‘Knowing Martha, she’ll have herself out of that lift unaided and back at her desk before the cavalry has so much as put its boots on.’

Another time and Willow might have agreed with this sentiment, but recalling how anxious her sister had been for Willow to stay on the line chatting to her – ‘You’re keeping me from worrying that I’ll never get out of here.’ – she wanted to say that Martha wasn’t as invincible as Geraldine, and many others, made out. But instead she said, ‘Just pass on the message and I’ll be in touch if I hear any more.’

Seconds after she’d ended the call, her mobile rang. It was Tom.

‘It’s okay,’ he said, when Willow began to explain why she’d left him a message to call her, ‘I’ve just spoken to Martha and she’s out of the lift now.’

‘That’s a relief.’

‘Yes. I think she’s a bit embarrassed about the whole thing. You know how she hates to be made a fuss of. Anyway, she’s insisting that she’s perfectly all right and is carrying on with the day as normal.’

‘That’s good.’

‘By the way, thanks for trying to contact me. I was with a new client so couldn’t take any calls. Anyway, how are you?’

‘Oh, I’m fine, muddling along as usual.’

‘How many more weeks do you have to go now, I’ve lost track.’