‘My father banked there, and it is near to my chambers. I went in to get some cash. They gave me the lost chequebook. It had been found in the Strand Palace Hotel and sent back to the bank.’

‘Had she paid for the room?’ Judith seems more shocked by this possibility than by the adultery itself.

‘No. It must have fallen out of her bag – perhaps knocked off the bed in the throes of passion.’

‘So you confronted her?’

‘Yes.’

‘And she confessed?’

‘Yes.’

‘Was it a shock?’

‘Yes.’

‘How long had it been going on?’

‘She said a year. I suspect it was longer.’

‘You hadn’t had suspicions?’

‘No.’

‘And his wife?’

‘She said she didn’t know but I now think that perhaps she did.’

‘She didn’t tell you?’

‘No. She thought I’d make a fuss.’

‘You’d been faithful?’

Jomier hesitates. ‘There’d been a fling with a girl from my chambers.’

‘Did Tilly know about that?’

‘No.’

‘No one else?’

‘No.’

‘Perhaps she knew and thought: tit for tat.’

‘She didn’t know.’

‘She may have sensed it.’

‘Feminine intuition? Perhaps. But it was really . . .’

‘What?’

‘She fancied Max.’

The waiter hovers. Neither wants coffee. They ask for the bill.

‘You should forgive her,’ says Judith.

‘Oh, I have,’ says Jomier.

She looks at him sceptically.

‘Forgiven but not forgotten,’ Jomier says.

‘Scars?’

‘The wound still festers . . .’

‘And there’s never been anyone since?’

The bill is placed before Jomier. ‘Nothing significant.’ He reaches for his wallet.

Judith picks up her bag from the floor. ‘This time I insist.’

‘I really would rather . . .’ He hands a debit card to the waiter.

‘Here.’ She hands him £20.

‘That’s too much.’ He hands back the £20 note.

She takes it and hands him a £10 note. ‘Now it’s too little so you needn’t feel emasculated.’

They go out on to the Shepherd’s Bush Road. ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’

Jomier hesitates. He finds it difficult to remember what he is doing without consulting his digital diary. ‘What day is it tomorrow?’

‘Saturday.’

‘Saturday. I’m having a drink with a friend who’s over from New York.’

‘And afterwards?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Then why not come to supper with me? I’m having one or two friends. Nothing grand.’

Chapter 12

Chapter 12