‘Then, one weekend, when you were away, she turned up at the house,’ he said, maintaining a level tone and attempting no rebuttal. ‘At first, she claimed that she’d forgotten you were away and had been passing and thought she’d stop by. I made her a coffee and then she admitted that she’d known you wouldn’t be there, but felt that there was a mutual attraction between us which needed to be addressed. At that point, I said I thought she should leave. She was your friend and that made me uncomfortable,’ he added, lowering his eyes and addressing the table.

‘You were uncomfortable because she was my friend…’ I said slowly, as if considering the point. ‘So, can I just clarify? Your moral code is that friends are out of bounds, but absolutely anyone else is fine?’

‘When you and I split up,’ he said, continuing to ignore my increasingly bitter interruptions, ‘she began calling and texting regularly, suggesting we meet up, offering to talk things through, if I thought that would help. I agreed, and when we met, she immediately told me how angry she was at what I had done to you, her friend. But as we talked, gradually her emphasis changed, and it became clear that she felt I had hurt her too. I had rejected her but slept with other women and she was upset by that.’ He paused. ‘I’m sorry, Edie,’ he said, now looking up.

‘Why?’ I asked, with a nonchalance convincing even to myself. ‘So far, you haven’t – in this particular fantasy – done anything to apologise for.’

He looked at me steadily. ‘I met with her a number of times and on the fourth occasion I slept with her. It was some months after you and I had split up. I don’t know why I did it. I don’t remember wanting it to happen.’

‘The fourth occasion? Well, thanks for being so specific.’ I placed my elbows on the table and rested my head in my hands. ‘But is there much more? Because I’m so, so tired of everything to do with you, Jason.’

‘I knew that I’d made a mistake, so I called her and apologised and said that I was really mixed up and in therapy and didn’t want another relationship, casual or otherwise, for a long time. She seemed to accept that. I think the truth was that because you had no interest in me, and I – as far as she knew – didn’t want a relationship with you or with anyone else, she was no longer interested in me.’

‘Deep,’ I murmured, focusing entirely upon my resentment towards him and an impatience to be gone.