Janie swung round and saw Mia in the kitchen doorway. She let go of the clutches of her dress that she had been balling and smoothed them down her thighs. The heat on her neck was making her itch, and she resisted scratching what she knew must be patches of red crawling over her skin.

‘Sorry?’ Janie said.

‘I agree,’ Mia replied. ‘He shouldn’t have done that. That’s what you must be thinking.’

Janie went to speak, though no words came out. She hadn’t known anyone else was listening to her and Harry.

‘I mean, Laura is clearly drunk, but she could have got a taxi home,’ Mia went on, her eyes seemingly penetrating Janie’s. ‘After all, that’s what I’ll be doing,’ she said, as if emphasising that Harry’s favouritism was clear for all to see. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened, by the way. I hope you’re okay?’

Janie shrugged.

Mia nodded as she looked towards the front drive. ‘She has him wrapped around her finger, doesn’t she?’

‘What?’ Janie blurted out, incredulous.

‘Laura? I mean, it’s hardly Harry’s fault.’

Janie shook her head, her gaze trailing over Mia’s face, which was full of composure, yet couldn’t completely hide something dark lurking behind her eyes. ‘What are you saying?’ she asked uncertainly.

‘I’m saying that we shouldn’t always blame the man. If they are led on to believe that a woman is interested in them …’ Mia paused and shrugged, holding her palms up flat.

Janie cocked her head, fury raging through her, but at the same time it was battling with a need to know what Mia was getting at. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Mia pursed her lips. It looked as if she was trying for a smile, though Janie wasn’t sure. Everything about the evening was surreal, and all she wanted now was for Mia to leave her alone so that she could head straight for the champagne, which until now she’d been drinking in moderate proportions.

She needed to bolster herself with alcohol, before any of it started to feel real and she had to face the likelihood that her husband was sleeping with the woman he had just driven home.

‘Oh, right,’ Janie said suddenly, as the idea dawned on her. ‘You’re pissed off with Laura. Well, whatever the hell is going on between the two of you, it has nothing to do with me or my husband.’