‘Oh, I behaved terribly,’ she continues. ‘When things were getting really bad, and I couldn’t pay bills, I went down from Glasgow to London for an emergency meeting with him. I couldn’t even afford the train. Nick and I travelled on a rickety bus. And the meeting went badly because I simply couldn’t admit that I was wrong, that I’d made any mistakes at all. I shouted at Saul for trying to tell me how to manage my business, that I’d created, and I stormed out. And I did the most terrible thing.’

‘What was that?’ Nick asks.

‘Oh, it was so silly and juvenile.’ She looks around at both of us. ‘I egged his car.’

‘It was his car that you egged?’ I exclaim. ‘Not a woman’s?’

Nick’s eyes widen, and he catches my gaze briefly. ‘Yes, it was Saul’s,’ Penny murmurs, her cheeks reddening. ‘I did that to the man who’d shown nothing but kindness to me when I first started out, and was the only person who’d ever had faith in me really, because my own parents certainly thought I was mad—’

‘I never knew that, Mum.’ Nick comes over, sits beside her and wraps an arm tenderly around her shoulders.

‘It’s not something I’m proud of,’ she murmurs. ‘I’ve tried to forget about it and move on. All the other projects, the new lines I tried to get off the ground … Can’t you see how much I wanted to prove that I wasn’t incapable?’

‘I know, Mum,’ Nick says carefully. ‘But Girl Friday was still a wonderful thing. You won’t believe how positive people have been, how excited and nostalgic, when we’ve contacted them …’

‘And the fact that it ended eventually doesn’t mean the show can’t go ahead,’ I add. ‘I know things went wrong and the business collapsed. But when you see the actual clothes, you’ll remember how much they meant to young women back then.’ I look at her, imploring her to give us her blessing. ‘Can we go ahead, Penny? We can do anything you like. You can invite anyone – all your friends, and Hamish, of course; it’ll be a real celebration, just a fun night with people who love you.’

‘Oh, he’s preoccupied right now,’ she mutters.

‘What with?’

‘Something to do with his glow plugs.’

‘Is he ill?’ I ask, concerned.

‘They’re part of the engine on his boat,’ she says impatiently. ‘Honestly, that thing of his – it’s a bloody embarrassment. And he won’t admit it. He won’t let it go.’

Nick’s mouth twitches into a smile. ‘He loves it, though.’

‘Yes, because he’s an idiot.’

‘And he loves you too,’ he adds, gently teasing her, ‘doesn’t he?’