Evie stared at her, stricken. ‘Jasmine blames herself?’

‘Children often get the wrong end of the stick.’ Mary looked at her sadly. ‘I’m going to pass on one piece of advice. My Granny once told me that the secret to a happy marriage was to think of love as a verb and not as a noun. It’s something you do and you show; not a state you’re in.’

‘I think your Granny would have got on well with my monk!’

‘Very probably.’ Mary got to her feet. ‘If I could change one thing in my life it would be to have buried my pride and tried to forgive Ralph. Once he was dead, pride and indignation and hurt feelings meant nothing. Come on, we’d better get those girls back for their tea. Mum has been baking queen cakes.’

That night, after Jasmine was in bed, Evie put on the pearl ring her husband had given her at Christmas. Downstairs, she sat down at the ornate lacquered desk in the study, took a sheet of paper and wrote a brief letter to her husband, telling him he could come home at the weekend. She decided against stating the terms for his return and the change in the allocation of bedrooms. That could be left until he was here and she could deal with it face-to-face.

The following morning, she was about to tell Jasmine that her daddy would be coming home for the weekend, but decided not to chance it. If Doug failed to turn up, the little girl would be devastated.

But he did turn up. Not only that, he arrived that evening instead of waiting until Saturday as she had expected and as was his usual custom. He had made more of an effort with his appearance than his previous visit. No sign of the unkempt hair. No stubble on his shaved chin. He was wearing an open-necked, well-pressed shirt, a pair of pale linen trousers in place of his habitual shorts, and his hair was neat and looked freshly washed. But there was a look of unease around his eyes and he appeared nervous.

‘You got my letter? I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.’

Douglas looked surprised. ‘What letter?’

‘I wrote to say you could come home this weekend.’

He moved across the room, relief washing over his features. ‘You did? The post is often slow at Batu Lembah. Thank you, Evie. Thank you.’ He went towards the drinks cabinet. ‘This calls for a celebration.’

Something inside told her not to make things too easy for him. Forgiving him didn’t absolve him from the original crime.

‘Sit down first. You can listen to me before you have a drink in your hand.’

Douglas looked abashed, but complied, taking a seat opposite her.

Evie spoke first. ’I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since we talked. And for the sake of the baby and for Jasmine, I’ve come to the conclusion that we have to try and repair the damage.’