My parents had been mortified by the whole situation, I knew, but stoically and with absolute loyalty, they had never once mentioned their embarrassment, though my own guilt was immense.

I waved the car off, tears springing to my eyes as Effie blew me kisses through the back window. As they turned the corner, I saw Freddie stick his light-saber up Alicia’s nose.

After a year of indrawn breath, I was waiting to exhale again.

I got up at dawn the next day and drove into London beneath speckled mackerel skies. As I sped down the Westway, my phone rang.

‘Rose?’ It was Ruth, James’s solicitor. ‘I’ve got some bad news, I’m afraid.’

‘What?’ Fear gripped me; for a moment I felt light-headed. The van in the lane beside me blasted his horn as I swerved dangerously.

‘We’ve only just heard. The Crown want to call you as a witness.’

‘I don’t understand.’

The van driver was mouthing at me, jabbing his finger at my mobile. I ignored him, tucking the phone under my chin. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means you’d be a witness for the prosecution.’

A motorbike flashed by, the driver crouched like a bat out of hell.

‘God,’ I mumbled. ‘And what does that mean?’

‘It means, Rose, that you will be called to give evidence against James.’

Given the massive media interest in James, I was unsurprised by the amount of press as I arrived at the Old Bailey that first morning – but still I nearly turned back. The hounds were baying for blood as I put my head down, hiding behind sunglasses although the day was dull and grey, the sky overcast. Still, I recognised faces I’d known for years, more that I hadn’t; TV crews, even paparazzi in some vain hope that a real celebrity might turn up (some hope; James’s famous friends had proved fair-weather so far).

Every fibre of me screamed ‘go back’ as I broke through their ranks. It was utterly alien for me to be on this side – but I had no choice. Suddenly I knew how the fox felt.

‘Give us a break, guys,’ I muttered. A few stood back to let me through.

The first four days, I just waited around. As a probable defence witness I wasn’t allowed to enter the court whilst the Crown case proceeded first. But I felt it was my duty to be near James, despite not being able even to see him. I sat in the corridor or the canteen; I read gossip magazines and drank a lot of tepid tea. I taught myself Sudoku. Occasionally I tried to write something, but my concentration was shot. And all the time I was waiting the refrain played through my head: if James gets out, I have to tell him I’m leaving anyway.