Clio was just deciding that it might be safe to mention Leah’s name, at least, when she heard the front door opening and saw her mother stalk back into the Hall. The heavy door closed firmly behind her. Now Clio had upset her, which hadn’t been her intention at all. It was obvious that her mother would have heard about her guests; the Hall was a gossip factory with everyone knowing, or at least wanting to know, everyone else’s business. The trouble was that Clio just hadn’t prepared any answers.

Maybe she should have run after her, she thought. Then again, on reflection Clio decided it would be better just to let the subject drop. It had probably been a mistake to invite Leah to the Hall in the first place, but Clio had been so thrilled at her suggestion that they meet up that she had got carried away. However, she couldn’t think of a way of explaining how she knew Leah without giving away that she had been to Whitley Bay, and that would lead to yet more questions. What was it Walter Scott said? ‘Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive!’ Well, that was certainly true here, thought Clio. Her mother might be upset by the irritating lack of detail, but that had to be better than her finding out the truth.

Clio and Leah had had a fine time, though. Once they had got beyond Leah’s obvious shock at Hartsford Hall which, to give her her due, she’d taken in her stride pretty quickly, the pair of them had got on like a house on fire. After a couple of glasses of wine over lunch and with the children excused to go and explore, they had slipped easily on to the subject of their love lives, which had really pleased Clio. It was as if they were already close and this swapping of intimate details came as second nature, like in the relationships that she read about it books or saw in films. Sadly, Clio had little to share. Her love life was as dead as a dodo, but Leah had more to tell.

‘So, remind me,’ Clio asked her. ‘What’s Poppy’s dad called?’

Clio worded her question carefully so as not to suggest that there had been anything loose about Leah’s behaviour, even though it was clear that the relationship had been nothing if not casual.

‘Craig,’ Leah replied with a shudder.

‘And do you still see him?’

‘No. He’s still banged up. Went back inside for GBH,’ Leah said and she grinned at Clio and raised her eyebrows skywards. ‘He was what you’d call a mistake. Apart from Poppy, of course. I wouldn’t be without her for all the tea in China.’