But not wanting to let him, or anyone else, down, I had insisted that going out would be a welcome distraction and do me good. Obviously, I hadn’t really held out any hope of that actually proving to be the case, and yet remarkably, by the time June opened her front door to us, approximately an hour and a half after my doom-laden journey home, I was already feeling very much better. This was admittedly thanks in part to the large glass of red, but also to the unfailingly uplifting company of Giles. He was someone who seemed to emanate an aura of positivity and calm, and I marvelled – not for the first time – at what a near-impossibility it was to remain anxious or upset for long in his company.

‘Come in, come in, Edith and Giles,’ beamed June as she ushered us inside, the sound of lively conversation immediately reaching us through the half-open living room doorway. She was, I noticed, wigless this evening, her wonderful, slightly bouffant, snow-white hair fully revealed as she looked me up and down.

‘Like a rainbow,’ she murmured, gazing at the swirling pattern of my dress before more loudly, and quite directly, telling Giles that he had lost weight.

He laughed at the comment, but as I turned to look at him, I saw that she was right. The double chin, which he had so lamented a month earlier, was now nowhere to be seen and only the slightest hint of a rounded tummy was detectable beneath his blue-check shirt.

‘June’s right, you have lost weight,’ I said, nudging him.

‘It’s only a few pounds, but thank you for noticing. Oh, but you didn’t notice, did you, Edie? It was June who noticed. Thank you, June.’ He offered her a small bow, whilst handing over a bottle of red wine.

‘Have you been lifting dumbbells in a gymnasium, Giles?’ she asked, taking the bottle from him.

He nodded. ‘I have indeed been pumping the iron, June. As well as eating fewer biscuits.’

‘You’ve been working out? When?’ I asked, hugely intrigued, but he didn’t seem to hear.

‘You should eat avocados and nuts,’ said June.

‘Mental note duly made.’ He tapped his left temple.

She looked pleased and there followed a pause in the conversation.

‘So, June,’ said Giles after a moment, ‘shall we perhaps join the throng?’ He pointed towards the open door.

‘Oh yes! I must show Edith to everybody!’ she exclaimed, making me feel like a newly purchased pair of shoes.