‘Please forgive my reserved reaction initially. To show no emotion is the old Chinese way, as my father taught me. Times change and Jonathon, of course, does not agree. Regardless, I feel this will be a very good campaign for us. Thank you, Grace, and welcome on board. Let’s get this done.’

As the group broke into applause and smiles and nods, Grace let out her breath in relief and said, ‘Thank you, Mr Pangisar. I am delighted to be a part of the project.’ She began to gather her papers together with slightly shaking hands.

This was a huge step. She wished she felt as confident as she sounded. While she’d got the gig, she now had to pull it off. Thoughts of the job and all it entailed brought with them the problem of Lawrence and the separation, and moving to Bali with Daisy for possibly an extended period of time. But she put them aside for the moment: the night ahead would be a celebration of all her hard work, as far as Grace was concerned.

Before she changed and headed out to dinner, she had just enough time to dash off an email to Spencer at the agency telling him the good news. He’d been emailing constantly over the past week, insisting she keep him updated. Put that in your pipe and smoke it! she thought.

The dinner was held at the elegant Odette restaurant in the National Gallery building, in a private space with personal supervision from chef Julien Royer. Grace was glad she’d bought a new outfit for the occasion: fitted silk pants, stilettos that would likely rarely see the light of day again, a lace top and loose matching silk jacket, all in the palest of apple green.

Johnny Pangisar acted as host, making sure the Dom Perignon flowed and the mood was upbeat. Grace, seated between Farrouk Eljoffrey and Madame Pearl, as the others called her, was very conscious that she was playing in the big league. Johnny paid Madame Pearl particular attention, his manner hovering between solicitous and flirtatious, although only once did he elicit a partial smile from the older woman. Watching this handsome hotshot, Grace couldn’t help but admire the easy style of a man she knew to be a shrewd operator, one who knew just who held the aces and who could be useful to his family business.