Screamingly elegant from her short, sleek black hair to her beige Ferragamo shoes, she simply wasn’t the kind of female whose mascara ever ran. Maxine couldn’t bear people like that. Most ominous of all, however, was the fact that in her elegant hand she carried an elegant suitcase.

Naturally, it matched the outfit.

Feeling very down-at-heel by comparison, Maxine replied with a trace of belligerence.

‘He’s away on a shoot in Wiltshire. We aren’t expecting him back until late this evening. He may even decide to stay there overnight.’

The woman, however, simply shrugged and smiled. Even her teeth were elegant. ‘So much for surprises.’

Deeply engrossed in her telephone conversation with Cindy, Maxine hadn’t heard an approaching car. Now she realized there wasn’t one.

‘I came by taxi,’ said the woman, intercepting her glance in the direction of the drive.

‘Don’t worry.’ Maxine stepped aside and gestured her to step inside. ‘I’ll phone for another one. I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted journey, but if you’d like to leave a message for Guy I’ll make sure he gets it. As I said, he probably won’t be back tonight ...’

‘It’s quite all right,’ said the woman easily, making her way past Maxine into the hall and dismissing her offer with a nonchalant wave of her wrist. Indicating the suitcase in her other hand, she added, ‘This isn’t a fleeting visit. I’m down here for a week at least.’

Bugger, thought Maxine. It hadn’t worked. ‘Really? How nice,’ she said aloud.

Her name was Serena Charlton and in confined spaces the reek of her scent was positively overpowering. One of Guy’s ruthlessly slender model ‘friends’, she was showing every sign of making herself at home.

‘We’re extremely good friends, she told Maxine as she slithered out of the leather coat and handed it to her. ‘I expect Guy’s told you all about me.’

Not so much as a syllable, thought Maxine, taking comfort from the fact. It was going to be interesting seeing Guy’s reaction when he returned and found an uninvited guest comfortably installed in his home. What fun if he booted her out .. .

‘Then again,’ said Serena, observing her deliberately blank expression, ‘he always did like to keep his private life to himself. And gossiping with the household staff isn’t quite the done thing, after all.’

‘Of course not.’ No m’lady, sorry m’lady, Maxine silently mocked, only just resisting the urge to tug her forelock and bob a fetching little curtsey. She was expected, it seemed, to hang the coat up. To amuse herself, she dumped it instead over the back of the nearest chair.

But Serena appeared genuinely unaware of the fact that her words might have given offence. Making herself comfortable on the sofa, she smiled across at Maxine and said, ‘A cup of tea would be nice. White with two Hermesetas, please.’

Having heaped at least a hundred calories’ worth of brown sugar into the cup, Maxine felt a little better. When she carried it through to Serena in the sitting room she said, ‘Josh and Ella are playing upstairs. Shall ‘I tell them you’re here?’

Serena was undoubtedly beautiful but she hadn’t featured in Josh’s list of favourite females, which was another bonus. Maxine soon found out why.

‘The children are here?’ Serena’s face fell. Her tone of voice registered distinct lack of enthusiasm. ‘Why aren’t they at school?’

‘Summer holidays.’ Maxine had to work hard to suppress a grin. Serena Charlton, presumably, was childless.

‘Oh. No, don’t worry about getting them down here. No need to disturb them. You carry on with your work, um ... Maxine. I’ll just sit here and enjoy my tea in peace.’

And get fat into the bargain, thought Maxine smugly, remembering the amount of sugar she’d put in. Dying to get the low-down on Serena, she raced upstairs to interrogate Josh. The lack of enthusiasm, it transpired, was entirely mutual.

‘She’s staying for a whole week?’

Reaching for the remote control, Maxine reduced the volume on the television.

‘She thinks she is. Why, don’t you like her?’

‘Her face is quite pretty,’ said Ella helpfully. ‘And she’s got really short hair.’

‘She’s OK I suppose.’ Josh was making an effort to be fair. ‘She brought us some sweets once. But she’d rather be with Dad than us. We’ve only met her a few times and she always thinks we should go outside and play.’ He pulled a face. ‘Even when it’s raining.’

Their earlier row forgotten, Maxine retorted indignantly. ‘And what does your father have to say about that?’

Sometimes Josh seemed wiser than his years. His gaze drifting back towards the television screen, where Tom was beating hell out of Jerry, he replied absently, ‘Most of Dad’s girlfriends make too much of a fuss over us because they think it’ll make him like them more, and then maybe he’ll marry them. I think Dad likes Serena because she doesn’t do that. He says at least she’s honest.’

Nifty reasoning, though Maxine appreciatively. On both sides.

‘If I go and get the scissors,’ said Ella, ‘will you cut my hair off now?’

Chapter 14

Thanks to the appalling weather, business in the shop was slow. Few people, it seemed, were interested in buying flowers when it was pouring with rain. Janey and Paula, guiltily eating cream cakes from the bakery next door, passed the time by doing the crossword in the local paper and taking it in turn to make endless mugs of tea.

‘What’s a nice chap like me doing in an advertisement like this?’ Paula read aloud as Janey emerged from the back of the shop with yet more tea.

‘How many letters?’ Janey asked, easing herself back onto her stool and peering across at the paper. ‘Could it be Jeremy Beadle?’

‘God forbid!’ Paula grinned and pointed to the next page. ‘I’m on to the Personal column.

Don’t you ever read it?’

‘No.’ Pulling a face, Janey followed Paula’s index finger and read the rest of the advert. ‘ "I am a good-looking male, thirty-four, with a whacky sense of humour." Hmm, probably means he’s into serious spanking. "Fun-loving partner required, five feet three or under." Ah, so he’s an extremely short spanker. "Age, looks and marital status unimportant." That means he’s totally desperate.’

‘OK,’ said Paula, conceding the point. ‘He doesn’t sound great, I’ll admit.’

‘Great? He sounds like a nerd.’

‘But they aren’t all like that. How about this one? "Divorced male, forty, own home and car, new to the area. Likes dining out, theatre, tennis, long walks ..." What’s wrong with him?’

Janey said unforgivingly, ‘BO I expect.’

‘Don’t be mean! Why are you so suspicious?’

‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged. ‘If he’s so terrific, why does he need to advertise in the Lonely Hearts?’

‘He’s new to the area and he doesn’t want to cruise the bars picking up girls,’ said Paula, springing to his defence. ‘Because the type of girl he likes doesn’t hang around bars waiting to be picked up. There’s nothing weird or sinister about advertising in the Personals,’ she added firmly. ‘Sometimes it’s just the most sensible thing to do.’

Janey had never thought of it like that. Neither would she ever have imagined that Paula would argue the case so strongly. Her curiosity aroused, she said, ‘Have you done this kind of thing yourself?’

‘No, but a friend of mine tried it once. And it worked for her.’

‘What happened?’

The younger girl broke into a grin. ‘She met a tall blond airline pilot. Within six weeks, they were married. And they’re amazingly happy.’ Paula, who could give Maxine a run for her money where bluntness was concerned, added, ‘You should try it.’

Startled, Janey laughed aloud. ‘Me?’

‘It’s been two years now since Alan ... disappeared.’ Paula fixed her with a steady gaze. ‘I know it’s been hard for you, but you really should be starting to think about the rest of your life.

You’re only twenty-eight, Janey. You need to start going out, meeting new people ... having fun...’

‘And you seriously think this is the answer?’ Deeply sceptical, Janey said, ‘That by answering a few crazy adverts in the local paper I’ll change my life?’

‘I don’t know.’ Paula, having made her point, crossed her fingers beneath the counter and prayed that Janey would never find out she’d made up the fairytale romance between her friend and the pilot. Reaching for the paper and returning her attention to the crossword, she added casually, ‘But if you don’t try it, you’ll never know. Now, have a look at fourteen across. Do you think it could be pfennig?’

Paula had a way of saying things which stuck in the mind. As she tackled a pile of ironing that evening, Janey found herself recalling their earlier conversation and beginning to wonder if she had a point after all. Having overcome her initial misgivings, she now conceded that for some people, circumstances beyond their control made it hard for them to socialize in the traditional manner. When she’d pressed Paula for further details about her friend, for example, she’d explained that as an airline pilot, Alistair had been so busy flying all over the world, he simply hadn’t had time to meet any girls in his own country. Not interested in the air hostesses with whom he worked, he had placed an advert instead, in Time Out, and received sixty-seven replies. The first date hadn’t worked out and Geraldine, Paula’s friend, had been the second.

True love had blossomed almost instantaneously and the remaining sixty-five females hadn’t had a look-in.

Janey hadn’t believed this story for a moment. Even if Paula hadn’t own-goaled herself, calling the pilot Alistair one minute and Alexander the next, she would have seen through the enormous fib, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Janey herself had read magazine articles detailing such meetings and subsequent marriages. Paula had undoubtedly been right when she’d declared that sometimes it was simply the most sensible thing to do.