“It’s all in Vet’s memoir,” Abigail told Sam. “Which, thanks to Damon, became a bestseller. He plugged it incessantly—told his readers it was definitely the best book of the year because it was the only one about him. Even though it portrayed him as a total shit. He could be . . . surprising like that.”

“The man you’re describing sounds like a monster,” Sam said, feeling queasy. “You said before that you’d have gone back to him. Both of you said it. Is it really true?”

“I hope not. I fear yes.” Abigail gave Sam a c’est-la-vie look.

Verity nodded in confirmation.

“Why?”

“If he’d wanted us back—either of us—he’d have produced such a dazzling display of fresh-start, new-leaf high romance that we’d have ended up believing we’d never see his cruel streak again,” said Abigail. “Damon at his best was irresistible.”

“Did he do the same to you?” Sam asked her. “Keep a list of everything you did that he disapproved of?”

“I’m sure he did, but he never said so. Yes, I’m certain he did, thinking about it. I don’t think he could help himself. On the eve of our wedding, he told me that I was ‘verging on hefty’—those were his exact words—even though I’m actually not at all overweight and nor was I then. And he couldn’t bear it if my nail varnish was chipped.” Abigail waved her hands in the air. No chips in the pink that Sam could detect.

“There was a morning on our honeymoon when I woke up and found him sitting beside me in bed, crying,” she said. “I was frantic, as you might imagine. He wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t explain what was wrong, however much I begged him to. He left the room without a word and disappeared for most of the day. I thought I must have talked in my sleep, declared undying love for one of my exes or something. When Damon finally turned up again, he told me that if I ever snored again the way I had the night before, he would leave me and never come back.”

“Snored?” Sam could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Abigail nodded. “Snoring—the antithesis of femininity, according to Damon. I’m a quick learner. I didn’t snore again, though I didn’t sleep properly either. Half of my brain had to stay awake, on the lookout. And I made sure my nail polish was always immaculate, but . . . once Vet and I became friends and she told me about the list of criticisms he threw at her, I realized that all my efforts were in vain. For every flaw of mine that Damon upbraided me for, there would have been at least another forty he silently resented.”

“You’ve both described a man who couldn’t tolerate any kind of deviation from unrealistic perfection,” said Sam.