Marlon pulled the car around and we came to a stop right outside the huge front door, the gravel crunching under the tyres. Poppy let out a low whistle and then, seeming to remember that Marlon was in the car with us, blushed furiously. I gave her a shrug that I hoped said, ‘So what if Clio lives in a mansion? It’s just a house, right? No need to come over all star-struck,’ or whatever it was that you did with houses.

‘Mummy, where does the nice lady live?’ asked Noah.

I ignored him, not really sure of the answer, nor why we had parked right outside the door of the main house, and not wanting to look foolish in front of Marlon. I was saved from having to answer because the huge front door of the Hall was flung open and out burst Clio followed by an arthritic-looking black Labrador and a far more sprightly West Highland terrier scampering around her feet. She skipped down the wide stone steps towards us.

‘There she is!’ said Noah, pointing with such excitement that Poppy had to take hold of his fingers and lower them gently to his lap.

Oh dear God, I thought again. This was such a terrible idea. What on earth had I been thinking? I’d only met the woman once and that for barely an hour, and on the basis of some ludicrous idea of kindred spirits I had dragged the children here and was going to have to battle my way through an entire afternoon. I felt a lot like Eliza Doolittle. Would I suddenly be talking all posh by the end of the day – the rain in Spain and all that?

Shyness overcame me. If I could have grabbed the kids and got Marlon to take us straight back to the station, I would have. We didn’t belong here. I felt stupid and ignorant and very, very poor! But despite all that, here we were, and I was just going to have to find a way of dealing with it. Should I gush, I wondered, or was it better to take it all in my stride as if I was invited to stately homes for lunch most weekends?

While I was still pondering the best approach, Clio stepped in and took control. Opening the car door she virtually pulled me from the seat.

‘You’re finally here,’ she said, like she’d been waiting forever for us to arrive. ‘I’m so glad. I’ve been desperately looking forward to seeing you all.’