She turned and offered a half-wave as she slipped back into the crowd, and Beverley stood there in the afterglow of the encounter. It was always thrilling to be recognized, but it was even better when someone else was there to witness it.

‘Wasn’t that nice?’ she said, smiling at her ghost. ‘Right, onwards to shoes. These characters won’t dress themselves. DON’T!’

SOME DOTTY OLD MAN

After leaving Jeremy’s office, George Cleverley made his way over to his solicitor’s receptionist with a smile on his face.

‘I’m leaving now,’ he said.

‘Thank you for keeping me informed,’ she replied, looking up and adopting a suitably hostile expression.

‘No problem at all,’ he said, remaining exactly where he was as he narrowed his eyes and stared at her face.

‘Is something the matter?’

‘No, I’m just … well, you’d really never know, would you?’

‘Never know what?’ she asked with a sigh.

‘That you’re … that you were … that you are … Look, here’s the thing.’ He glanced around to make sure there was no one near by to overhear any of this. ‘I’m a little confused. You said that Aidan never existed, but that’s not quite true, is it? Aidan did exist once upon a time, but he doesn’t exist any more. And that’s perfectly fine. Admirable, even. I’m happy to acknowledge his permanent absence and your permanent presence. But why didn’t you just explain that to me at the start? It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. If anything, I applaud you for it. I think it’s wonderful that we live in a world where, increasingly, people can be exactly who they want to be.’

‘Who they want to be?’ asked Nadia.

‘Who they are, then. You see, all you’re doing now is looking for something to get angry with me about. I’m trying to be supportive and you’re scrutinizing my every word, desperate to find something to pick me up on.’

Nadia swallowed and stared at him. ‘That’s not what I’m doing at all,’ she said after a moment.

‘Oh, but it is,’ he replied pleasantly. ‘And if you think about it, if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll see that it is. So, again, I wonder why you didn’t simply explain your new identity to me in the first place, since we’ve met many times in the past and always got along perfectly well. Why act as if Aidan never existed and I am some dotty old man?’

Nadia said nothing now, instead looking down at her desk.

‘Could it be that you anticipate bigotry, that you actually long for it and can’t bring yourself to imagine that a man like me hasn’t an intolerant bone in his body? Because, if you took the time to examine my track record over three decades of public life, you’d see that’s the case. But no, you’re actually desperate for me to fulfil your own prejudicial expectations.’

‘Mr Cleverley, I—’