‘Because I was dressed as one when I met Shane, and he thinks I’m in training. So I have no choice but to put in an application.’

Angela poured herself a glass of water, which she drank slowly as she thought this through.

‘Have you ever wanted to be a policeman?’ she asked.

‘Oh no. I don’t like fights and I imagine there’s an awful lot of pulling people to the ground and shouting at them to put their hands behind their backs.’

‘So let me see if I have this right, then. You’ve met a man and fallen in love—’

‘Well, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I’m in love. But I daresay it’s only a matter of time. I’ve definitely fallen in like, if that helps.’

‘And because he thinks you’re a policeman, you’ve quit your job and are signing up to a career that frightens you, just so he won’t realize that you only wore the uniform to feel confident around women, a sex that you say no longer interests you.’

Nelson considered this for a moment before nodding his head. ‘Yes, that’s about the long and the short of it. What do you think, are you proud of me?’

DELETE CONTACT

After Nelson left, Angela rose from her seat and walked towards the window, watching through the net curtains as he exited the building and turned right in the direction of the Tube station. She looked utterly miserable, like Melania Trump on date night, and put a hand to her stomach, holding it there for a few moments, feeling tearful for the baby that she’d believed herself to be carrying but which her doctor had told her that morning was nothing more than a phantom pregnancy, brought on by stress, depression and an unhealthy diet. Her periods had stopped, her stomach had grown bloated, and she needed to change her lifestyle entirely if she was not to fall seriously ill.

It wasn’t that she had particularly wanted a child – in fact, motherhood wasn’t something she’d ever felt a great pull towards – but now that the possibility had been taken away from her, she felt the loss of what might have been. And, she had to admit, she’d hoped that a baby might induce George to leave Beverley and start a new life with her.

She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts, stopping at C, before picking out his name. Then, taking a deep breath, she pressed ‘Delete Contact’.

AND THIS WILL MAKE YOU MISERABLE

Although the day had started well, it went downhill quickly after breakfast when Elizabeth learned something so deeply upsetting that by the time she met Wilkes in his favourite coffee shop, the Fair Trade Equality Place for All Love, she was in a state of heightened anxiety. Understanding the need to remain calm at such a troubling moment, however, she did her best to take comfort from the nettle-grass tea she ordered, and when he eventually arrived, her disquiet was not eased by his shambolic appearance.