‘Fleur, hello, I hear Amanda rubbed you up the wrong way. Sorry, she’s not as scary as she seems. She’s got a lot on her plate. She says you wanted details of your first husband’s arrangement with my father. That’s the problem: we don’t really know the nature of it. It may not really have been strictly legal. It was listed as a charitable donation, but the Charity Commission doesn’t have any record of it. Amanda’s looked. If my father’s trust had deeds, we can’t find them. Anyway, we are here to make sure Mr MacCleod is paid. But I think it needs to come from you, from one of your trusts. That’s all.’

‘Julian, what’s going on? It all seems so furtive?’

‘No, it’s not furtive. But we do need to get the estate settled and to separate the personal and business matters. My father was a little lax about these things. The family has always tried to avoid publicity, as you know. Financial markets are very volatile at the moment and your first husband has been talking to a local newspaper. Journalists just love that sort of thing.’

‘What sort of thing?’

‘Oh, you know, top banking family embroiled in scandal. Rumours fly about. My brother heard one about you and some rugby player . . . all nonsense, obviously, but we need to get everything tidied away. Harry didn’t always know the difference between his money and the family’s money. Do you think that you can do it?’

Only her actor’s training allows her to give the impression of pondering his question seriously.

‘Yes, I think I will do it. For you.’

‘Wonderful. Thanks so much.’

She imagines a new coldness in Julian, his father’s coldness. He tells her that Amanda will set up a one-off payment of £250,000, which will come from her – she will be reimbursed – and for that Artair must promise never to mention the bank again and to call off his lawyer in Cornwall. She must make it clear to Artair that there never was any legally binding agreement between him and the family or with the Coppélia Trust, which has been wound up, and that this offer is made without prejudice, which means, he says, that this is the last word and that it cannot be used in court. She must get Artair to sign a document.