‘That’s Kathy,’ he’d replied, and there was something about the way he said it, something about the softness of his smile that made her shiver as they both turned and looked at her. The memory of this made her feel sick now, obviously. That’s Kathy. The woman I’m actually having an affair with, was what he hadn’t said back then, of course. And believe it or not, in thirty-five years’ time, we’ll have a right old surprise when her daughter – and mine! – turns up unexpectedly at our anniversary party.

There was more. Another flickering film-reel that had emerged from the depths of her brain: the drinks at the end of term that July, in the Bricklayers’ Arms, for the teachers and their other halves. Jeanie hadn’t thought she’d be able to make it, what with Stephen coming down with a tummy bug and John having just cracked one of his teeth at the cricket club, but her mum had offered to babysit at the last minute and Jeanie had decided that popping out for an hour wouldn’t hurt. She’d changed her top and brushed her hair out from its ponytail, she’d even dabbed some rouge on her cheeks and put on lipstick, for good measure. It had been a lovely evening, she remembered it still, because in those days it was such a novelty to be walking along the sunny street on her own, and she actually felt quite uplifted to be out like this for once, going to meet her husband for a social event. And then she’d got to the pub and she’d seen Harry sitting next to her – that Kathy girl – their heads close together, their bodies turned towards one another, and she’d heard a warning bell jangling in her head. A wife noticed these things.

‘I didn’t think you were coming!’ Harry cried, springing up away from the girl as soon as he saw Jeanie there, and the warning bell went on with its discordant jangle as Kathy glanced over at her and moved swiftly to another table.

Jeanie had kept her suspicions to herself – she had enough on her plate, with four young children occupying her time – but had breathed a private sigh of relief on hearing from another teacher friend that Miss Hallows had left town and was no longer at the school the following autumn. So that was that, she’d thought.

Except it wasn’t quite the end of the matter, after all, was it? Because here she was now, without her husband on their so-called second honeymoon, as a result. Oh, life could play cruel tricks on a person sometimes.