The sun has made a rare appearance, poking its head through the blanket of cloud, and it’s brought the joggers out. Middle-aged, grey men with knobbly knees skirt round us, panting unpleasantly under their towelling Mark Knopfler headbands while sprightly young girls with impossibly tight tracksuits and Sony Discmans clamped to their sides follow in pursuit. Slivers of gilt glimmer on the domes of the tall buildings, lighting up the city with rare golden streaks.

‘Was Nepal all you hoped for?’ Pip says.

‘More than.’

‘I missed you,’ he says, looking out over the Thames. ‘I thought about you a lot while you were away.’

‘That’s nice.’ It feels good to be outside, even though it’s so cold I can see my breath puffing out in front of me. I need a head-clearing walk. And it’s strange that a few weeks ago my body ached from unaccustomed physical exertion and now it is stiffening up for the lack of it.

I don’t know how I struggled through the morning, but struggle I did. Manfully. The whole time I felt so restless it was making my skin itch, as if I had ants crawling over me. It was decreed that I should move on to My Divorce, but to ease my transition, I’ve been allowed to keep my desk for the first month. I think everyone was scared that if I continued on My Baby and got back into the swing of potty-training problems, my obsession with small, pudgy babies would return with a vengeance. But I don’t think it will. I can’t explain what’s changed inside me, but I no longer want a child at any cost. If I try to rationalise it to myself, I could say that it was seeing the happy, smiling faces of the children in Nepal—the children who have so little and give so much. It’s a harsh comparison with the kids here, who have so much and constantly want so much more. Do I really want to bring a child into this life? Do I want to expend all my best efforts into parenting only to have them crushed by a child who thinks I’m failing if it doesn’t have the latest designer trainers? If I want something cute and cuddly to love, would I be better off with a guinea pig or a Jack Russell?