So there we were, just being friends (which we were anyway) while he tried to get back in my good graces, and it was all rather restful without the sex thing, which, although down to once a week at most, had increased in vigour to compensate, so I probably needed a break, though I decided that if I missed it I would simply let him win me round later when I’d forgiven him.

But don’t think I wasn’t still feeling betrayed and deeply wounded, because I was. Things would never be quite the same again.

Nobody mentioned the bleeding roses.

Once her aunt had gone home I finally told Linny all about it. I’d put it off because I thought she might be sort of pleased since she’d always fancied Sergei herself. But she was actually terribly sympathetic and insisted I repeat every single bit of the conversation with Sergei, which is what I really wanted to do anyway.

And then she said she personally was totally disillusioned with men, but did think that Sergei actually cared for me in his own way, and I must have known what sort of man he was but had just shut my eyes to that side of things, and I said I supposed so, but what I wanted to know was whether I was special or merely part of ‘that side of things’.

‘Special,’ she said. ‘I’m sure anyone else is just, well, just sex, and they don’t mean anything to him, and I think men like that are the pits.’

‘But I thought you had the hots for Sergei?’ I said, surprised.

‘Only from a distance. I found him rather scary that time I took the note round for you.’

Then she blushed, so I thought she still fancied him really, despite everything. And unfortunately so did I …

She also said speculation on the identity of the figure I’d glimpsed was pointless – it was probably another dancer, which sort of kept it in the family and didn’t really count, and I said so long as it hadn’t been Grigor, though strictly speaking he was more a leading light by then. He looked much more impressive on the stage – you didn’t notice the lack of chin at all when he was actually dancing.

‘Don’t be silly,’ Linny said firmly. ‘I’ve never seen anything more heterosexual than Sergei in my life, make-up or no make-up.’

‘No, you’re right,’ I agreed. But anyway, thank God for my strong sense of self-preservation, which had led me to take a belt-and-braces approach to contraception all my life. (Or maybe it was more a dislike of babies?)