‘He can’t have been ill over me.’

‘He’s been worried, Zoe. It’s not fair making him keep secrets like that. Especially from me. Toby swore him to secrecy.’

‘Toby knows about this?’

‘Poor Toby is devastated. Course he is.’ Madeline points at me. ‘You’ve caused all this upset you know. Shouldn’t have done it.’

‘But it’s not true!’ I stop what I’m doing and think back to how Toby’s been behaving over the past few days. There’s been nothing to suggest that he thinks I’m cheating. Nothing at all. I think Madeline must have got hold of the wrong end of the stick. ‘So tell me, Madeline, who am I supposed to be having this affair with? Where did the rumour even start?’ My mind suddenly flies to Cassie. This reeks of her handiwork. It would make sense, as she’s always had it in for me. Maybe she started the rumour to sabotage my anniversary party. Maybe she’s jealous of me. Or maybe she just wanted to punish me because of what Dina did to her. She couldn’t get back at my sister, so I was the next best thing. I pass Madeline her cup of coffee and put a fresh capsule into the machine for me. I’m more than a little drunk myself. This all feels so surreal.

Madeline sets her drink on the glass table with a clatter. ‘You should just come clean, Zoe. Lying doesn’t help anyone. There’s poor Nick making himself sick with worry. And dear Toby sticking up for you, even after this type of betrayal. The man is a saint.’ As Madeline sips her coffee, she’s starting to sound a little more coherent. ‘I tried to get Toby to talk to you about it, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Said it would only make things worse.’

Something occurs to me. I take my coffee and sit on the end of the bed opposite Madeline. The cold air streams in through the tiny gap in the window and I find myself shivering. ‘When exactly did you speak to Toby about this?’

She screws up her nose as she tries to remember. ‘Some time last week… Friday, I think. Yes, definitely Friday, before Nick and I went away for my birthday. You ruined that too – Nick wasn’t himself at all.’

‘I still don’t get why Nick would feel sick about me having an affair. Sure, he’d be upset on Toby’s behalf, but sick? No. I don’t believe it. It makes no sense.’

‘Believe what you want, but it’s true,’ she slurs. ‘Nick has morals. He doesn’t like lies or secrets. He’s got a conshus… conshuns… conscience.’