‘I arranged to meet Angus at eleven.’ She closed her eyes. She felt so guilty about Kai. He’d never been alone in the house before. She couldn’t imagine what he had felt when he woke up and found her gone.

‘Go on,’ Douglas said brusquely.

What she hadn’t bargained for, when she set off for her assignation, was that she would bump into Tim. She decided not to tell Douglas about that, it would only complicate things, but Nick’s father had left the Queen’s Arms at the exact moment she was walking past. They had seen each other at the same time, and both had looked ready to bolt, but she had steeled herself to confront him. It had been a long time coming.

Tim had looked dismayed, before his customary bravado reasserted itself and he greeted her warmly. She hadn’t meant to say anything, but it flooded out of her. She laid into him, accusing him of rape, of child molestation, of walking away from his responsibilities. She threatened him, told him that, unless he paid up, she would go to the police with her accusations. When he said she couldn’t prove it, she had reminded him about the baby. She wouldn’t even have to find her – something died inside her when she said that – she had her DNA.

‘I don’t have anything to pay you,’ he had said, holding out empty hands. ‘I’m flat broke.’

The barmaid came out to fetch the ashtrays in, and they went silent until the door had closed again behind her.

‘You won’t be broke for ever, though. Not once you inherit Nick’s estate.’

He stared at her then, and suddenly he looked terribly old. She almost felt sorry for him.

After dwelling on their affair for so many years, fantasizing about what she could have done or said at the time, to come out of it with her dignity intact, she found that she felt nothing for him. She even wondered how she could ever have slept with him, let alone thought she was in love. Compared to Douglas, and Angus for that matter, he was insubstantial. The only thing she felt was a searing guilt over the fate of his son. His shoulders were hunched as he walked away.

She waited until he was out of sight, then made her way towards the spot where she had agreed to meet Angus, close to the playground, out of sight of the parade.

He had been waiting for her, she told Douglas. Tall and elegant, leaning nonchalantly against a tree. The plan had been for her to weave her spell, wrapping him around her little finger, reminding him of the afternoon they had spent in each other’s arms. If necessary she would gently hint that she knew his secrets. He didn’t bite at all, to all intents and purposes immune to her charms, so it was necessary.