He looked hurt. ‘I wasn’t trying to wrap you in cotton wool. I was simply trying to …’

She reached out and took his hand. ‘Of course. Of course. You spoil me, my darling – you really do. But I’m quite robust, you know!’

‘I just want our baby to be … to be …’

‘Of course. And he will be. Or she. He’ll be strong and healthy, just like his daddy.’

Matthew grinned. He liked to be called Daddy; and it would almost definitely be the baby’s first word. Mummy would be the second one, following shortly after that. Of course Edinburgh babies were sometimes surprisingly sophisticated. He had read recently of an Edinburgh baby whose first word had been olive. That was very advanced. Glasgow babies were advanced too. He had heard of one whose first word was bevvy. Referring to milk, of course.

Matthew was already beginning to think of the baby’s future. ‘We must plan,’ he said. ‘We’ve got six months to get it right.’

She had laughed at this. ‘Oh, surely not, Matthew. You don’t need to have everything in place by the time the baby arrives. We’ve got years and years to sort things out.’

Matthew had become quite animated. ‘Not so! Not so! Babies creep up on you – or crawl perhaps. Then suddenly you discover that there are all sorts of decisions you should have made much earlier. Believe me, Elspeth, you have to plan these things.’

She had looked at him in astonishment. Was this the sort of father that Matthew was about to become? ‘So what are you thinking of, then?’ she asked. ‘Give me an example.’

Matthew shrugged. ‘There’s so much. Disposable or non-disposable nappies. Feeding …’ He trailed off. ‘Well, I know you’re going to laugh at this, but I was thinking of putting his name down for Muirfield. If he’s a boy, that is.’

Elspeth gasped. ‘For that golf club? Oh really, Matthew! You must be joking.’

Matthew laughed. ‘Actually, I was. But there are some things we need to decide.’

‘All in good time,’ said Elspeth. ‘And anyway, we don’t know whether he’s a boy or a girl. There’s no point in doing anything until we know that.’