I wonder who the friend was. Not Suzanne, in any case. But there’s something in the air today, some new optimism that makes light of my concerns. Maybe it’s the sun, back again after a week of cloudy skies. Maybe it’s the fact that, for the first time in three years, we have actually sold out of gift boxes. Maybe it’s just the scent of chocolate, and how good it is to be back at work again, to handle the pans and the ceramics, to feel the granite slab grow warm beneath my hands, to make those simple things that give people pleasure . . .

Why did I hesitate so long? Could it be that it still reminds me too much of Lansquenet – of Lansquenet and Roux, and Armande and Joséphine, and even the curé Francis Reynaud – all those people whose lives took a different turn just because I happened to pass by?

Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can’t be helped; it’s part of what makes us who we are. Why should I fear it now? Why should I fear anything here?

We have worked so hard over the past three years. We have persevered. We deserve success. Now, at last, I think I can feel a change in the wind. And it’s all ours. No tricks, no glamours, just plain hard work.

Thierry’s in London again this week, supervising his King’s Cross project. This morning, he sent flowers again; a double handful of mixed roses, tied with raffia, with a card that reads:

To my favourite technophobe – love, Thierry.

It’s a sweet gesture – old-fashioned and just a little childish, like the milk chocolate squares he likes so much. It makes me feel slightly guilty to think that in all the rush of the past two days, I’ve barely thought about him at all, and his ring – so awkward to wear when making chocolate – has been lying in a drawer since Saturday night.

But he’ll be so pleased when he sees the shop and all the progress we have made. He doesn’t know much about chocolate; still thinks of it as just for women and children, and has quite failed to notice the growing popularity of high-quality chocolate over the past few years – so that it’s hard for him to envisage the chocolaterie as a serious concern.

Of course, it’s early days yet. But Thierry, when you see us again, I think I can promise you’ll be surprised.