Jomier has met Ophelia on two further occasions – once when she had gatecrashed a Sunday lunch (poached capon, salsa verde) that Judith had given to introduce Jomier to another group of her friends; once on a Sunday evening when she returned Judith’s Peugeot which she had borrowed for the weekend. ‘I’m so sorry, Mum, I got a ticket parking on the Mall outside the ICA.’

It was after this third meeting that Judith had said to Jomier: ‘She’s going to spend Christmas with her father, thank God.’

‘And Tim?’

‘Tim too.’

‘So what will you do?’

‘I don’t know. Go off somewhere. Or celebrate it here on my own.’

‘Why not come to me?’

‘Would your children mind?’

‘Of course not. Or, better still, they could go to their mother and perhaps we could spend Christmas abroad.’

Jomier brings up the subject of Christmas with his son Henry and daughter-in-law Sandra during Sunday lunch at their house in Queen’s Park – roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding cooked by Henry. He floats the idea of a change in the established routine. ‘Judith’s on her own. We thought we might go to Venice. Could you manage Christmas without me?’

Incredulity. Henry and Sandra struggle to grasp the meaning of what Jomier has just said. Then, after two or three seconds of incomprehension, the penny drops. Sandra turns towards Henry with a boardroom look which says: ‘Handle this carefully. For fuck’s sake don’t blow it’ – while Henry’s expression, like a fast-forwarded recording of a TV weather forecast predicting showers with sunny intervals, shows first an astonished delight, then a feigned regret. ‘Of course, if that would suit you.’ He turns to his wife. ‘What do you think?’

‘I’m sure we could manage,’ says Sandra.

‘We could go to Granny Tilly’s,’ says Samantha.

‘I dare say,’ says Henry.

‘Hooray, hooray, hooray,’ says Sam.

‘Hooray, hooray, hooray,’ echoes Ned.

‘Venice can be lovely in winter,’ says Henry.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Stansted. They are flying Ryanair to Treviso: tickets out of Heathrow were too expensive. Jomier would have been prepared to pay the extra but Judith has insisted that she will pay for herself and he senses that she has not got much money. Their original intention was to take the Underground to Liverpool Street and then the Stansted Express but Judith has a large suitcase: it is difficult to travel light in winter because of the bulkiness of warm clothes. They take a minicab: Jomier pays and enters the £70 into the mini-spreadsheet on his Palm Treo. The airport is crowded: the Christmas rush. They wheel their suitcases towards the check-in desk for Treviso. They join a long queue. Judith holds Jomier by the arm. She is excited. Jomier does his best to persuade himself that he too is excited but sneaks an envious look towards ‘Arrivals’: in a week he will be back.