‘I met your builders. Seemed like nice chaps.’

‘They’re not mine. I’m just keeping an eye on things.’

‘Yes, I know,’ he said. ‘I’ve read about you in the 176papers, once or twice. You’re the famous Cotswolds house-sitter who solves complicated rural murders. Everybody knows about you.’

She grimaced. ‘None of it by choice, I promise you. It’s a tawdry sort of fame, always associated with somebody getting murdered.’

He got up. ‘I’ll go and order, then. Are you ready for another drink?’

‘Nowhere near. Besides, I’m driving. This one’ll have to last.’

While he was gone, she explored the notion of Clovis being married. It would have to be a tough woman, well supplied with self-confidence. Or would he be crass enough to go for some young thing who had no idea what she was getting into? Having met his mother, who seemed entirely well balanced and a good sensible influence on her son, she tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. The very fact that he was seeking advice seemed to be a good sign. She laughed gently at herself for her earlier panic. There would be no need to keep this encounter a secret from Drew, after all. That in itself was a great relief.

He came back and sat down and looked at her. He was still impossibly handsome. To have such a man as your lawful wedded husband would bring great kudos, even in this era of near equality. Heads would turn, and women would narrow their eyes at the wife and wonder what her secret was. ‘So what do you think?’ he asked her, seeming to be reading her thoughts without asking.177

‘I need more information. Who is she? How old is she? What sort of baggage is she bringing with her? I mean – children, mainly.’

‘She’s called Jennifer and she’s thirty-two. No children, but two dogs. A job that pays silly money and a severe allergy to sesame seeds. You’d be surprised how tricky that can be, let me tell you.’

Thea was not one to prevaricate with euphemisms and implied meanings that might easily be missed. ‘You’re over forty and never married, right? Doesn’t that frighten her?’

‘It frightens me,’ he said. ‘I’ll have to learn all those rules from scratch. I’m handicapped, remember, by not having a normal family background to rely on. I never saw a functioning marriage at close quarters in my formative years.’

‘I wonder how much that matters.’ She thought of her own settled childhood, with two parents, three siblings, and all the associated trimmings. Nice house, pets, adequate finances, no traumatic deaths and hardly any accidents. All that sort of thing had not started happening until she was past forty. And still she was doubtful about her performance as a wife – not just to Drew, but retrospectively to Carl as well. In the past few months she had begun to wonder just how good a job she’d made of it the first time around.