Luciana settled herself on the sofa at the far end of the room with the book of crossword puzzles she liked to do during meals, which Stella considered to be the height of bad manners. She had tried to hint – tactfully of course – that she didn’t encourage guests to bring books into the dining room but Luciana at her most autocratic had informed her that she didn’t require encouragement or need permission. If she wanted to do the crossword during dinner, then that was what she intended to do. Sam hurried over to her with her usual drink. It was a mystery to Stella why all the staff cherished Luciana in a special way – it certainly wasn’t because she threw her money about, thought Stella crossly.

Soon the new arrivals and the sweet couple came in and took the bar over, so that everyone else felt out of place, their clothes not right, their accents wrong – gatecrashers, the lot of them – except the lady-from-Purley who stood her ground. She could tell you a thing or two about the so-called upper classes, and not very creditable things at that! Oh yes. Back at home, she was an avid reader of the glossy magazines about stage and society celebrities. She pinned Stella against the wall and instructed her about the right temperature for wax before the first application on a multi-coloured batik design. Mike and Reg, into their third round of drinks, were happily oblivious of the little drama being played out in front of them, but Luciana watched with malicious pleasure.

Sir Colin had chosen this rather public moment to celebrate a private occasion: the first anniversary of his wedding to Patsy. He clasped a diamond pendant round her pretty neck. The stones were very large and sparkled and flashed arrestingly against Patsy’s newly acquired suntan. Stella gave her a nervous look; she had no reason to mistrust any of her staff, but St Matt’s was a poor island and she always put up a notice asking guests to leave any valuables in the office safe.

The gatecrashers were all immediately ‘in’ again: Patsy required audience participation. She ran from group to group with artless little cries of pleasure, occasionally covering the glittering bauble with her hand, so that its impact would strike afresh when she exposed it again. She even undulated over to Luciana, but Luciana heard Marnie’s cries ringing in her ears and would not be beguiled.

Colin was the sweetest husband she’d ever had – Patsy it seemed spoke from experience; he was a dear, dear, darling man, and she just adored him. All the other guests were caught up in her rosy glow; everyone ordered extra bottles of wine for dinner when they moved out to the candle-lit tables on the terrace, and there was much festive raising of glasses to Colin and Patsy.