‘Please, Rupert, will you just go and look?’ Emily turns to him, her face pleading. ‘That was definitely someone outside our bedroom door. I feel weird enough staying here tonight; I’ll never sleep if I think someone is spying on us.’ Caro’s name hangs unspoken in the air between them.

Rupert sighs, although his heart is racing. ‘OK. If it’ll make you feel better. It’s probably just someone staggering to their room – you saw how drunk everyone was. I won’t be a minute.’ Emily gives him a roguish grin, and he pulls his shirt back on and heads downstairs.

I wait for fifteen minutes or so, the sheets artfully arranged around my naked body so that my shoulders and chest are bare. I fidget, running my fingers through my hair, giving it that sexy, tousled look that Rupert loves and glance impatiently at the bedside clock. How long does it take to check if there’s anyone outside? The champagne is wearing off now, leaving me with the thick thud of a headache beginning at my temples, and I am starting to get cold, goosebumps rising on my arms as I wait for Rupert. I wait another five minutes before I tug the sheets away and pull on Rupert’s discarded sweater and slip my knickers back on. Rupert will surely be on his way back and I’ll bump into him on the landing, and then we’ll slide back into the warmth of the bed. Grinning to myself at the thought, I let myself admire my ring one more time before I open the door and peep out. Part of me is still jumpy, and I half expect a face to loom out of the darkness… but there’s nothing. Not even any sign of Rupert.

Maybe he’s gone to get some water? My temples throb in sympathy and I decide that I’ll go down and get some anyway. Rupert can’t have gone far. I creep silently down the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone, a reassuring yellow glow of light spilling from the entrance to the kitchen. As I get to the bottom stair, I pause, unable to comprehend what I’m seeing at first. I was right, Rupert did go to the kitchen, but he’s not alone. Sadie sits on the high bar stool in front of him, her head resting against his chest, as his arms go around her shoulders and she clasps him about the waist. Rupert is murmuring something, and she raises her head to look at him, pulling away.