‘It’s none of my business,’ she says. ‘But I’m very fond of Amy and I don’t want her to get hurt.’

‘Neither do I,’ he says.

It surprises him how strongly that came out, how important Amy is becoming to him. Cara looks sideways at him, and she smiles.

‘Good,’ she says. ‘That’s very good. So let’s forget the wretched Cosmo and talk about your family. Explain who it is I’m going to meet and their exact relationship to you, and remember, I’m a complete stranger.’

When they arrive at The Keep it’s clear that celebrations are taking place. A television series is going to be filmed locally and Jolyon, Hal’s son, has suggested to the producer that The Keep might be the perfect location for some of the scenes. Cara is slightly alarmed by the whirl of family life but is caught up by the excitement of it all. Jolyon is very like his father, and Cara takes to him at once.

‘So are you, by extension, Sam’s godmother or his godsister?’ he asks her. ‘I’ve been trying to work out the relationship.’

She shakes her head. ‘I take no responsibility for him at all.’

Jolyon laughs and introduces her to his pretty wife, Henrietta, his small son, George, and the baby, Alfie. Fliss and Hal are preparing a big Sunday lunch. Honey patrols, on the watch for titbits, and Cara settles happily at the big kitchen table, listening whilst the discussion continues about the prospective TV series.

‘It’s the perfect time for The Keep,’ Jolyon says. ‘The eighteen hundreds, when dear old however-many-greats-grandfather Edward was restoring it from an old hill fort and then adding a couple of wings. It’s not going to be the main location for the series but it should earn you some money and it’ll be fun.’

‘And do Fliss and I get to be extras and dress up as Victorians?’ asks Hal, putting glasses on the table and picking up a bottle of wine.

‘Definitely not,’ says Jolyon at once. ‘That would be just so embarrassing, Dad.’

Hal winks at Cara, shows her the bottle, and she nods.

‘Yes, please,’ she says. ‘But maybe Honey will get a part, like the dog in Downton.’

At the sound of her name, Honey looks up to gaze across the room at Cara, and then small George puts his arms around the dog’s neck, hugging her.

‘So what d’you think of our latest addition?’ Sam asks Jolyon.

‘She’s great,’ he answers. ‘It’s good to see the dog basket occupied again.’

Hal nods. ‘Absolutely. Nice to have someone else in the doghouse for a change.’

There’s more laughter, more jokes, and Cara sips her wine, fascinated as always by the behaviour of a large family en masse. It’s outside her own experience and she envies them their shared past and the ease that goes with it.