‘No … Well, I don’t know. Maybe …’ As she spoke she felt the accumulative tension from Jared’s relentless, sinister presence hit her, like a truck. Clutching the bottle from which she’d been about to fill Devan’s glass, she began to cry. The sobs were savage, choking her. She gasped for breath, the wine sloshing dangerously.

Devan was on his feet in an instant, prising the bottle from her clenched fist and pulling her instinctively into a strong embrace. She had the chance to catch his familiar scent, feel his arms around her for a painfully lovely second. But the moment was over all too soon and she felt him pull back, as if he’d touched an electric fence. Despair returned. It would have been better if he’d never hugged me at all, she thought. The tantalizing moment of closeness made the rift between them seem all the more unbearable.

During a muted, often silent lunch, they talked about the family, about Christmas. Even the nightmare of recent politics seemed preferable to talking any more about the problem of Jared – to which there was no obvious solution – or opening up about how they were both really feeling. Connie was dying to ask, ‘Where do we go from here? Can you ever forgive me?’ But she didn’t dare, in case his answers were not the ones she wanted to hear. He’s here, she kept telling herself. At least he’s here.

It was getting dark outside, the pie had been eaten, the wine and coffee drunk. She felt exhausted – it would be a relief when her husband left. The pressure of his wretchedness was wearing her down and she had no idea how to alleviate it. Although the day, on the whole, had been so much better than she’d feared.

Devan got up from the table. He looked drained, too. But his manner was edgy suddenly as he stood there, blinking hard, his hands so deep in the pockets of his cords it was as if he wanted to thrust his fists through the cotton.

‘I’d better get going,’ he muttered, then hesitated. His gaze, when he brought it to focus on her, was unreadable. ‘I only came here today because Caty persuaded me to – for the sake of the family. For me, personally, I didn’t know how I could face you.’ He breathed in deeply. ‘But as soon as I saw you, I realized how much I’ve missed you. And that makes me absolutely bloody, fucking furious.’ She watched him snatch a breath, her own heart hammering at his attack. ‘Because I don’t know how to get past all this. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to trust you again.’ His voice was heavy with devastation. ‘My beautiful Connie in someone else’s arms … It breaks my heart.’ He took a gasping sob.