‘Come here,’ he said opening his arms wide and welcoming her into them. ‘What would I do without you?’

‘Well, I’m not planning on making you find out,’ said Grace lightly. She let him hold her, enjoying the feel of his arms enclosing her despite her bump. ‘Anyway,’ she continued, ‘if you have a minute, I just thought we could look at the diaries and make sure we have a plan for when Junior arrives.’

‘But that’s weeks away yet,’ said Charles, now holding her at arm’s length so that he could see her face. ‘You mustn’t worry about things so much, Gracie. It’s bad for you and the baby. And anyway, Hector was late. No doubt this one will be too.’

‘All the same,’ said Grace. ‘Given how often you’re away these days, I’d rather have an idea of your movements around the due date. If I’m going to have to rope someone else in to be with me, then they’re going to need a bit of notice.’

She was smiling as she spoke, but she was only half-joking, and she hoped that Charles was sensitive enough to pick up her real concerns. But it appeared that he wasn’t.

‘Me, miss the birth of my own child?’ he said, cocking his head to one side and planting his hands firmly on his hips so that he looked a little like a superhero. ‘Never! I will be there, my darling. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.’

Grace smiled weakly. ‘Indeed. But where will you actually be on the nineteenth of October?’

Charles felt in the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out the little blue notebook that he always kept on him. He flicked through the dog-eared pages until he found the appropriate week.

‘I’ll be in Newcastle,’ he said, and Grace felt herself relax. ‘We’re in rehearsal until the twenty-eighth so hopefully young master or mistress Montgomery Smith will put in an appearance before then. After that we’re in Edinburgh and then Glasgow, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. They’re not so far away.’

‘And the Formula One?’ she breathed, hardly daring to ask. She knew that the racing was very important to him these days – he went to as many races as he could manage in the season – but surely he wouldn’t want to be haring off chasing his self-indulgent hobbies when she was about to have his baby? If he did, though, Grace was going to have to drop a gentle hint about priorities.

‘All done and dusted by then,’ Charles said, and she felt at least some of the accumulated stress leave her body. ‘Last race is South Africa on the fifteenth and I wouldn’t be going to that one anyway. Don’t worry. I’ll definitely be around.’