‘But that was because I’m under so much pressure,’ he carried on, ignoring the marks I brandished in front of him. ‘I’m putting everything I’ve got into giving us a shot at an amazing new life. Things will be completely different once we’re settled. Everything will be so much better when we’ve moved, Hattie, you’ll see. You won’t be stressed at all.’

I took a deep breath.

‘I’m not stressed,’ I told him, my eyes looking straight into his, ‘and I’m not moving.’

‘Don’t be so ridiculous.’

‘I’m not being ridiculous.’

‘Of course, you are,’ he spat back as if ‘being ridiculous’ was my default setting. ‘You’re just upset, that’s all.’

‘I was upset,’ I calmly corrected him. ‘I’m not now. Now, I’m clear-headed, rational and ready to move on.’

I didn’t think I could have made it any clearer. I had planned to present him with what Mum had said in her email, read it aloud in fact, but there didn’t seem to be any point now. My relationship with him was beyond salvaging and there was nothing to be gained from picking over the scrawny carcass.

‘I think I better come and get you,’ he carried on as if I hadn’t said a word. ‘You need to come home and start packing. Being with that bloody woman and fannying about over Christmas like you’re some extra in a cheesy made-for-television film has made you lose focus. I daresay, deep down, you’re just a bit jittery about leaving the country, that’s all this is.’

Too deep down to trace as far as I was concerned.

‘The only thing I’m leaving, Jonathan,’ I said calmly, ‘is you.’

‘It’s last-minute nerves.’

‘It really isn’t.’

I didn’t know how I could possibly make what I was trying to tell him any clearer.

‘It is, of course it is.’

‘Look,’ I sighed, ‘I’m going now and I’m going to give you a couple of days to get your head around this, Jonathan, and then I’ll call to make arrangements about collecting my stuff from the flat.’

‘You’ll change your mind,’ he carried blithely on. ‘In a day or so you’ll be begging me to forget we ever had this conversation.’

I shook my head knowing I would never be able to match him when it came to selective memory skills and what was more, I didn’t want to. I had been a fool to be flattered by him and think I’d fallen on my feet when he showed some interest in me. I had all too readily slipped under his manipulative spell, believing that he was too good for me, when actually, it was the other way around.