‘Cheers.’ He leans forward and chinks his glass against hers. ‘So, Emily Belrose, housekeeper extraordinaire. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself? You’re in my house every day and I feel as though I barely know you.’

‘There isn’t much to tell.’ Emily ladles a spoonful of stew onto his plate. ‘I live in Swindon, not far from the High Street, with my flatmate. Above a kebab shop, believe it or not. It’s not my dream home, but it’ll do until I can find somewhere better.’

‘Oh?’ Rupert’s heart sinks in his chest a little – does she mean flatmate, or boyfriend? He tries not to think that way, but this is the first time he’s had any flicker of interest in anyone else at all since Caro died.

‘Yeah, Mags and I have lived together for about a year now – I had a bad break-up and Mags kind of saved me.’ Emily gives a tiny laugh, but there is a strange expression on her face, half sadness, half fear.

‘I’m sorry.’ Rupert sips from his wine, holding the stem of his glass tightly so he doesn’t lay his hand on hers. ‘It sucks, doesn’t it? I always thought I liked my own company, but now I guess not so much.’

‘It does suck a bit.’ Emily looks down at her plate as she pushes the meat round and round without eating. ‘My break-up is nothing, though, compared to what you must have gone through.’ She looks up at him expectantly, and Rupert clears his throat.

‘It’s been tough, yes. It came as a huge shock when Caro died, that’s for sure.’ He pauses for a moment, unsure whether to say what he really wants to. ‘It was partly a relief too, though.’

Emily says nothing, just tilts her head on one side.

‘Caro was… she was difficult to live with.’ Rupert lays his fork down, his appetite gone. ‘She was bi-polar. I never knew which Caro would be here when I got home. That’s why the piano playing took me by surprise. Caro would always play that song when she was low. I knew if she was playing that, I was in for a bad night with her.’

He is quiet for a moment, as he is assaulted by the memory of Caro crying, her mascara smudged black around her swollen eyes, the slamming of the bathroom door before the lock rammed home and he had no choice but to wait outside, murmuring through the door that he loved her, that if she would just come out… or the times he would come home from work, the house cold and dark as she lay huddled under the duvet, refusing to speak to him.