Jo nodded and gazed up at him with a wan smile. ‘Yes. My legs are just a bit wobbly, that’s all.’

Ben nodded and rubbed her hand tenderly.

At that moment, Elodie started to cry in my arms, no doubt unsettled by the tense, strange atmosphere. Ben turned back towards us. ‘Shhhh, don’t cry, sweetie,’ he whispered.

God, he was so wet sometimes. ‘She’s a baby, Ben,’ I snapped. ‘That’s what babies do!’

Ben looked hurt but didn’t reply and kept leading Jo out into the driveway where the hearse and the family car were waiting. We all stopped sharply at the sight of the coffin and my stomach dropped. He really was dead. Until this moment, I had felt as if he might just be playing some kind of cruel trick, but seeing the coffin, decked with a simple bouquet of beautiful white lilies, put all doubt to one side. This was no trick. He was gone for ever.

As if reflecting all our thoughts, Ben let out a guttural moan, before putting his hand over his mouth. I thought about comforting him but he was holding Jo’s hand and I couldn’t see a way to break into their huddle, especially when Emma came and took hold of Jo’s other hand. Instead, I stood off to one side holding Elodie, aware that we were being deliberately excluded from this private family moment, which struck me as ironic.

They climbed into the car, which only had seats for the three of them. ‘What about Bella?’ I heard Jo say.

‘She’s driving our car so that she can put Elodie in the car-seat,’ Ben replied.

I stood watching them pointedly, until the hearse began to move off, when I climbed into our car and we drove in a slow convoy towards the church, which was less than a mile away. I imagined what they were talking about in the car in front of me and decided that they would no doubt be eulogizing Peter, gushing over what a saint he had been. If only they knew.

I was slightly surprised that he was being buried and having a church service at all, as he had never struck me as the religious type but I reasoned that it just showed what a great actor he had been. Not unlike myself, I thought ruefully, as we pulled up in front of a large crowd of mourners outside the church. I wondered vaguely how many of the assembled throng knew what Peter was really like.

Again, no one seemed to give much thought to Elodie and me, as Ben helped Jo and Emma out of the car and led the way towards the church doorway. He stopped abruptly as someone stepped forward from the crowd to hug him. I narrowed my eyes, as I realized it was Matt. I might have known they’d be here. I stepped back slightly and pretended to attend to Elodie, in order to avoid having to talk to them. Just then, Freya and another woman walked over to Jo and Emma, embracing them both. ‘I’m so sorry,’ the woman said, taking Jo’s hand in hers. ‘You must feel so lost without him. I know how much you loved him.’