‘I won’t go on for long,’ he starts. ‘My golden rule in life is never say anything to anyone, but there are very special occasions when I am moved to break it, and this is one. First, I would like to thank Catherine Cobb and the team at Court Place for helping to decorate the tent and for inspiring the Venetian theme, and so on, all of which are so terribly well done.’ Cath beams at his side. Everyone claps. ‘And I must also thank Ned and Lulu for supplying the Godminster Singers as live entertainment. The Singers are donating their fee to the Venice in Peril fund and I might take this opportunity to remind you that any of you who feel moved to making a similar gesture in support will find details in the leaflet on your tables.

‘Secondly, I would like to thank all of you for coming, some from as far away as Chesilborne’ – he nods to the Golden Couple – ‘and Hutton’ – a nod to Sir Michael, who raises his glass back in a courtly way. ‘Believe me, I know what a strain it is dragging oneself across the county, especially on a Saturday, when sensible people are riding or gardening, so Well Turned Up!’ He raises his empty glass to the assembled company.

‘And thirdly, I would like to thank Mimi.’ Ralph pauses, and looks at me with palpable fondness. I feel tears prickle behind my eyes, and my throat congests. We are a team, I think. A couple. We’ve had our ups and downs, Lord knows we have, but we’ve got through them, and here we still are. ‘My wife,’ he announces, as if correcting a universally held misunderstanding.

He gazes at me again, as if at a loss for words to express what I mean to him. ‘If it weren’t for her, I would never be having this party,’ he says, in a heartfelt voice, ‘and, er, anyway, I’ll pull up stumps very soon, so I just want to say, well, actually just that I’m very proud of how she’s taken various things on the chin, thrown herself into country life and so on. You’ve done awfully well, darling.’ Ralph raises his glass to me and in his eyes I can read the ineffable gratitude the husband feels when a wife, despite very good grounds for doing so, declines to make a fuss.