Ben’s eyes widened and he automatically reached down to touch Elodie, who was scowling at me crossly. ‘Don’t shout, Mummy!’ she ordered, with a stern wag of her finger.

I hesitated. Elodie had never seen us fight before. I was usually very careful to protect her from it but it was as if a red mist had descended and I couldn’t do anything to control it. ‘Shut up!’ I snapped. ‘If I want to shout, I will! Come on, Elodie, let’s get you bathed before dinner and then Daddy and I can finish our conversation.’ I threw him a meaningful look, before taking Elodie’s hand and pulling her towards the door.

‘Daddy bath me!’ she whined, twisting back towards Ben and trying to pull her hand away from mine.

‘No!’ I bent down and scooped her up into my arms, where she wriggled and writhed.

I tightened my grip, to stop her moving and to get a firmer hold. ‘Ow!’ she wailed, bursting into tears.

I looked up at Ben, who was gaping back at me in horror. ‘I’ll bath her,’ he said quietly, reaching out his arms.

‘No,’ I insisted. ‘I’ve come home early especially to bath her, so that’s what I’m going to bloody well do!’

I stomped out of the room with Elodie in my arms, by now almost hysterical. I managed to get her up the stairs to the bedroom, where I half threw her onto the bed.

‘Now, come on, darling,’ I soothed, wiping away a sheen of sweat from my forehead. ‘Mummy’s sorry for shouting, I’m just very, very tired.’ I sat down on the bed and stroked her hair. Gradually, her sobs subsided, leaving her hiccupping as she looked up at me warily, sucking furiously on her thumb. ‘It’s OK, sweetie. Come on, let’s get you into that lovely bath. Do you know how to run it? Because I’ve forgotten …’

Immediately, Elodie’s face melted into a smile and she nodded drowsily. ‘I do it,’ she murmured sweetly, her tears seemingly forgotten.

Once she was bathed, I took her into her room, where I dressed her in her pyjamas and lay her gently into bed. She gazed up at me with an expression of such innocence and pure love that my eyes filled. I reached down and stroked my thumb from the bridge of her nose to the tip, like I used to do when she was a tiny baby. Immediately, her eyes began to droop shut. I smiled to myself, pleased that my little trick still worked. ‘I love you,’ I whispered, before tiptoeing out of the room.

At the top of the stairs I paused, needing to regain my composure before confronting Ben. From somewhere in the distance, possibly the garden, I could hear Ben’s voice. My antennae crackled. He was speaking too quietly to hear what was being said but it didn’t take much to figure out who he was on the phone to.

I crept down the stairs and into the kitchen. By now it was completely dark outside but the kitchen door was swinging open and I could see Ben talking into his mobile, while pacing up and down the patio. I walked to the window and looked out at him pointedly, my arms folded and my lips pursed.