‘Yes, and you weren’t half as much fun after you fell in love,’ Jenny chided. ‘Oh dear, he had some ugly friends and you were always trying to set me up with them.’ Jenny went to the fridge to pull out the bottle of wine she had bought earlier.

‘Well, we’d always said we wanted to have a joint wedding and bring up our babies next door to each other.’ Madelaine sighed.

‘It never really happened like that, did it?’

‘No. Well, it all happened but in the wrong order.’

Jenny eyed her friend over her wine glass. ‘Would you have married Jed if you hadn’t got pregnant?’

Madelaine took another slug of her own wine and shrugged. ‘Who knows? But I did, didn’t I? Anyway, I hardly had to put up with him for very long. Shotgun wedding, then a shotgun through his groin the month after the baby was born.’ She shook her head.

‘And you never did get much compensation from the estate, did you?’

‘A few hundred pounds. Enough for a good education.’ Madelaine looked straight at Jenny and let out a hoarse laugh. ‘Ironic really, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose it is, yes. Oh dear, it’s all such a long time ago now.’

‘I was only eighteen,’ Madelaine mused. ‘I can hardly remember what Jed looked like, or how I felt about him. I certainly didn’t put him on a pedestal after he died, like some people I know.’

Jenny nodded ruefully as the comment hit home. ‘I know.’

Madelaine leaned forward and patted her hand. ‘You’ve never got over him, have you?’

Tears came spontaneously to Jenny’s eyes. She wasn’t used either to drink, or sympathy. ‘No.’

‘After all these years. Is he why you’ve never married?’

Jenny wiped her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Maybe that, and . . . well, the right fellow never seems to have appeared. Apple pie?’

After pudding, they took their coffees into the sitting room. Jenny lit the gas fire, as the heating had gone off earlier. Relaxed now, they sat contemplatively together, both enjoying the familiarity of old friends.

‘Do you ever go back to see the estate?’ Madelaine asked finally.

‘Never. My mum died ten years ago now and none of my brothers and sisters stayed. They’re scattered across the country. I see my eldest sister at Christmas, but all her kids are gone now and have families of their own.’ Jenny sighed. ‘We’re getting so old, Maddy.’

‘I know. So much water under the bridge . . .’

‘Anyway,’ Jenny broke the moment, ‘have you decided how long you’ll stay at St Stephen’s?’

‘Until the matron I’m covering for returns from her maternity leave, if she does.’

‘Don’t you find it difficult, working there?’ Jenny asked softly. ‘It must bring back some memories.’

‘Of course it does, but in a strange way, I find it comforting.’ Madelaine smiled. ‘I’ve been to visit him a few times.’

‘Oh.’ Jenny nodded, not knowing what else to say.