She looked at it, frowning. At the party she remembered feeling sorry for him. It had crossed her mind he might be lonely, and she’d thought about setting him up with one of her single girlfriends. What was it she’d said to him? Ah yes. You know what you need… Oh damn, she’d been about to elaborate when she was interrupted by something… that silly broken glass. She’d left him with a smile and a promise she’d find him again later. Had he seen those simple meaningless words and smile as something more than she meant? Surely, he didn’t take them as an invitation. Amelia said he’d been watching her. She thought her friend was being silly, maybe now she’d been proven right. How dare he? She’d a good mind to tell Jack. He’d swing for him.

Molly looked at the message again. Stuart had gone to the trouble of getting her number. She vaguely wondered who from, then shrugged. It was on her business card; there were some on the hall table, he might have picked one up at the party. With a shiver, she deleted the message and blocked the number. She didn’t think he was in any way stupid; he’d get the message.

‘Honestly,’ she muttered, indicating and pulling into traffic. Did he really think she was interested in cheating on Jack with someone in his office?

She wasn’t interested in cheating on her husband, full stop.

And with that thought clear in her mind, she headed off to Wiltshire for the long weekend.

5

Thanks to horrendously heavy traffic on the M4, it was almost three hours later before Molly turned into the quiet village of Semington. Minutes later, hearing you have arrived at your destination on the right, she indicated and pulled over. She’d known from what Amelia had said that it would be lovely, but this was more than she’d expected.

Set back from the road, the buttery-coloured stone façade of the elegant house glowed in the early afternoon sun. Three tall sash windows sat to either side of the open front door and above were two further floors, seven windows on each stretching the width of the house with pleasing symmetry. An elaborate wrought-iron gate was set into an old stone wall that surrounded the garden; it opened onto a gravel pathway that led to the entrance, neat flowerbeds on either side holding a profusion of creamy blooms swaying in the slight breeze.

Lost in admiration, it was a few seconds before Molly saw the ornate arrow with car park in neat letters along its length. It directed her further along the road. She started the engine again, and drove slowly, turning between two stone pillars into the large car park.