‘I want to, but I don’t know how to stop Lawrence stalling and refusing to cooperate,’ said Grace with a sigh. ‘I’ve spoken to Mr Judd about it. We’re still waiting on a date for our mediation – the family courts are so clogged up, a wait this long isn’t unusual, apparently. I’ve asked Mr Judd to try to get Lawrence to agree to parenting orders now – apparently we can do that at any time on our own and lodge them with the court to make them legally enforceable. But so far, of course, Lawrence’s lawyer has told Mr Judd that “his client” is not prepared to do anything yet.’

‘He does like to be in control, that’s for sure.’

‘Well, I hope he leaves soon. It’s so distracting having him hanging around. He might say he came here to see Daisy, but I’m pretty sure he also wanted to nose around and upset me. And it’s working,’ Grace muttered crossly.

‘You know, I heard him say to Rosie Chow at dinner the other night that he might go to London,’ said Tina. ‘Time to see his family, he said; his father’s getting on. Went on about them still going to the polo and shooting weekends in the country.’

‘Oh, give me strength,’ said Grace. ‘For a start, where’s he getting the money for the airfare? And who the hell are his family, anyway? Are they Odfords or Hagens?’

‘Have you got to the bottom of that strange business with the passport yet?’ Tina said.

‘No, I really don’t know what the story is,’ said Grace, hiding her face in her hands for a moment. ‘Copies of the expired passport are in Mr Jamison’s safe and I sent that message on Facebook. You never know what might come out of the woodwork.’ She stood up and paced around, trying to ease her anxiety.

At that moment Daisy walked down the stairs wearing her swimmers and with a towel draped over her shoulder, and Grace smiled, welcoming the distraction.

‘Can you come for a swim with me, Mum?’

‘What a good idea, sweetie. I have time for a quick dip before I have to go back to work. Wait here for me while I get changed. I’ll be back in a minute,’ she said, and, gazing at her daughter for a moment longer, it occurred to her that Daisy was growing up. The ‘Mumma’s and ‘Mummy’s were getting fewer and farther between. Daisy plonked down on a chair looking onto the garden and swung her towel around, obviously keen to get into the water.

Grace turned and said quietly to Tina, ‘I’ll pay for whatever’s needed on the school list. If I let Lawrence pay for those things, he’ll start telling Daisy what she can or can’t do, because he’s paying for it.’