‘There’s no need to sound quite so surprised. If anyone should be surprised, it’s me. He seemed so . . . well, heterosexual, to put it bluntly.’

‘You know what models are like.’

‘Models? He’s not a model.’

‘What?’

‘He’s a fitness instructor.’ Will looked blank. ‘I see there’s a few things he hasn’t told you about. I bet you didn’t know about Victoria Crabtree either.’

‘Victoria Crabtree? What’s she got to . . . Oh no. Say it isn’t so.’

‘Yes,’ said Christine. ‘Isn’t that nice. We’ve all got something in common.’

‘And he told me that he just went to see Rivelli on a whim.’

‘Some whim.’

They opened a second bottle.

‘So let me get this straight,’ said Will. ‘You had Joel. I had Joel. Victoria had Joel. Victoria had Rivelli. You had Rivelli.’

‘You know that, then.’

‘I’m afraid Isabelle mentioned it.’

‘Well, it’s true. I’m not particularly proud of it. God, I’ve got rotten taste in boyfriends, haven’t I?’

‘Me too.’

‘My daughter hasn’t had an affair with Joel as well, by any chance, has she? I mean, he wasn’t the father of that child that she . . . you know? I don’t think I could stand that.’

‘No, of that you can be certain. His name was Marco, he was a dancer.’

‘Right. What a lot I’m learning today.’

‘And now she’s with Mike Christian.’

‘So I read in the papers.’

‘And she’s out in LA being a celebrity and expecting to come home to a great big house in Chelsea and a big pot of money in the bank and I can’t tell her that the whole thing has gone belly up.’ Will put his head in his hands. ‘I don’t know what to do.’

Christine was frowning. ‘Something’s very wrong here.’

‘You’re telling me. I’ve screwed up. My stupid bloody feelings for Joel . . .’

‘Yes,’ said Christine, ‘you’ve screwed up, but that’s not it. We’ve both made mistakes in that department. But there’s something else.’ She paced around the kitchen, wine glass in hand. ‘Everywhere I turn, every time something happens in this family, it always seems to have something to do with Victoria Crabtree. Isabelle’s drug problems. My . . . little spot of bother in the high court. Finding out about Isabelle’s pregnancy. Joel and the photographs. Everywhere I look, she’s there. And behind her, there’s Massimo Rivelli. What else is she going to do?’

‘You don’t know the half of it,’ said Will, and told her about the dragon dress.

‘A pattern emerges, as we say in the legal profession. So – what are we going to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Will. ‘It all seems hopeless. Without the money, we’ll go broke.’

‘Then we must see what we can do,’ said Christine. ‘Leave it with me.’