“There you go. Now you can have six from one set and two from another and the odd ones won’t feel lonely.”

“You smashed that plate on purpose.”

“So? When we were younger, nothing matched, and did it do us any harm? It’s a plate. Not worth crying over.”

“When we were kids,” said Ava, “I always wanted a dinner-set like that. Every plate from a different service. How did I end up with matching china from Harvey bloody Nichols?”

Finn handed her another plate. “Now’s your chance.”

Ava stood up, took a deep breath, and threw the plate at the wall. It gouged a deep plaster-coloured mark in the aubergine paint and shattered against the floor-tiles. She stared at the mess, then broke into hysterical laughter.

“Now what?” Paul opened the dining room. “My God, is that the china my mother bought us? What have you done? ”

“I threw it at the wall,” said Ava, laughing and laughing. “I dropped one, then Finn threw one, then I had a go and now there’s a hole in the wall.”

Paul looked at the wall, then back at Ava. “Have you gone fucking nuts?”

“D’you know, I think I must have.” Ava wiped tears from her face. “I’m going to have to go and lie down for a bit – Finn, could you just keep an eye on the dinner?” She stumbled out of the room and disappeared.

“What have you done to my sister?” Finn demanded.

“What have you done to my wife? ”

The two men stared at each other.

“Ava? Can I come in?” Finn tapped on the door of the master bedroom.

“Course you can.”

Ava sat on the bed with a woollen shawl around her shoulders. Finn sat down beside her and gave her a friendly pat.

“I had a massive shouting-match with Paul,” he said. Downstairs, the front door slammed. “That must be him going out. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“Shall I ring all your guests and tell them the house burned down and they can’t come any more?”

“Don’t worry. Paul will do it.”

“That’s annoyingly decent of him.”

“My mother-in-law bought those plates for Christmas,” Ava said. “They cost about fifty quid each. That’s what we used to spend on food for a month. And now I’m the kind of person who has an entire matching dinner-service.”

“It’s just a disguise. You’re still you underneath.”

“But what if this is me? I don’t want it to be. I don’t want to be this person any more but I don’t know how to stop. What if this is all I’m ever going to do? Own expensive crockery and cook food for boring people and get my house painted in colours I don’t like? Oh God.”

Finn held her and patted her back as she sobbed on his shoulder. After a minute she sat up and wiped her face.

“Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Go for it.”

“I had the dream about the beach the other night. You know the one I mean?” Ava nodded. “Only this time, it was different. We were standing on the beach like always, and the wave was coming. But this time, you were frightened. You said, What if I’m not strong enough? And I said, Don’t worry, this time it’s my turn. And when I woke up, I had this letter.” He stood up and took a worn envelope out of the pocket of his jeans.