She shook her head. ‘No. Just me, I’m afraid,’ she said in her best RP. She had managed to lose her East Anglian burr and was now proud to be unplaceable, by her voice at least.

‘Then would you allow me to accompany you?’ he asked.

He was starting to remind her a little of Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins. She wasn’t sure it was entirely proper to pick up an escort for a wedding at the ceremony itself, but arriving with a total stranger had to be better than arriving alone.

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘That would be lovely.’

Ted held out his arm for her to loop hers through. This felt horribly intimate, but he was grinning as if the whole thing was one jolly jape, so Evelyn decided to go with the flow. She gave a little curtsey, bowed her head and accepted his arm. Then the pair of them followed the other guests out on to the street to head to the George and Dragon, where there was to be a finger buffet and dancing until closing time.

The pub wasn’t far from the register office. Evelyn had tried to memorise the route from her A to Z so she wouldn’t have to ask anyone, but as it turned out there was no need. Ted had it covered.

‘Come on,’ he said as he led her along, their arms still linked. ‘I can get us there.’ He pointed down an alley that was stacked with wooden packing cases and empty apple boxes. ‘There’s a shortcut down here.’

Evelyn eyed the narrow alley with suspicion, but Ted added, ‘Don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe. I know this part of town like the back of my hand. I have to do deliveries round here for my boss.’

‘What do you deliver?’ asked Evelyn, curious to learn something of her new companion.

‘Oh, this and that,’ he replied non-committally. ‘Trust me. Sneaking down this way cuts a good five minutes off the walk.’

Without waiting for her to object, he pulled her down the alleyway and for the first time Evelyn began to feel uncomfortable. She could hear her sister Joan’s voice in her head, warning against going off down dark alleyways with strange men, and for once she knew Joan would be right. It was madness to follow him. She should say something, refuse to go that way and insist on sticking to the main roads, but it felt rude to object when he was being so kind as to escort her. And anyway, Ted felt like someone she could trust, and she considered herself to be a good judge of character. Then, before she could get too cocksure about her own perspicacity, her tricksy mind pulled her back to the Hilton Hotel. She had been wrong then, totally wrong.

There was nothing she could do about it now, however, so she allowed herself to be led along, all the while trying to make a mental map of where she was in case she had to retrace her steps at speed. But there was no need. Soon enough they emerged back on to a bustling main road and found themselves right outside the George and Dragon.