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As I left the kitchen, I paused a moment at the door at the end of the passage. Through the leaded lights I could see Jack, Henry and Phoebe, plus a few friends, on the trampoline. Too cool to bounce, they were lying on it, chatting and laughing in the sunshine. I smiled. Anna would have liked that. Suddenly I wished she hadn't had the clarinet exam.

Unsettled, I made my way back to the sitting room. Paula and Kay had clearly worked up quite a head of steam and were shrieking and hooting, glasses recharged. This was obviously a big day out for them. I tried to skirt round them to Tim, who was bustling around with a bottle being mine host, but my arm was seized by Paula.

‘And you're so brown. Have you been away?’ Her eyes were squiffy, accusatorial.

‘Only to Italy.’

‘Only to Italy,’ the pair of them mimicked.

I flushed. ‘Ant and I just went for a few days.’

‘Whereabouts?’

‘Um, Venice.’

‘Oooh,’ they cooed, like a Greek chorus.

A man had joined them now, small and wiry, blinking behind his spectacles. Oh God, Kevin Wise. Again from school, and – yes, of course, Caro had told me. He and Kay…

‘Kevin and I go to Cornwall, don't we?’ Kay regarded him sourly. ‘Every year, to the same grotty bungalow.’

‘Cornwall's lovely,’ I said encouragingly.

‘Not where we go. And his parents come with us, sadly. His mother's a witch.’

Crikey. ‘Ant and I like Helford,’ I managed.

‘Ant and I, Ant and I,’ mocked Paula. ‘Anyone would think you were still in love with your husband!’ She threw back her head and cackled. Then her head snapped back abruptly. ‘My husband won't make love to me any more,’ she announced in a loud voice, clearly spectacularly pissed. ‘He says he doesn't find it stimulating any more. Doesn't—’

‘Evie.’ Caro plucked at my sleeve. ‘Have you had one of these?’

Never had I been so delighted to see my sister-in-law brandishing a plate of vol-au-vents. ‘I have thanks, delicious.’ I took her aside. ‘But listen, Caro, the thing is, I'm going to have to dash quite soon. Ant and I are going out to dinner tonight. His publishers are—’ Shit. Ant and I and the publishers. I held my breath.

‘Don't worry,’ she said gently, to my surprise. ‘I know how it is. We all have commitments, and these summer weekends are a nightmare. Everything seems to come at once, doesn't it? It was sweet of you to come.’

‘Thanks, Caro,’ I said gratefully, remembering why we'd been such friends. Were such friends. Why, at school, we'd stuck together so firmly, amongst the Kays and the Paulas. ‘I'll just say goodbye to Tim.’

‘Oh, don't worry, I'll tell him you've gone. And I'd better escort you out,’ she said, taking my arm. ‘Your fan club will never let you go, otherwise.’

‘I don't know about fan club,’ I said nervously as we skirted the room. ‘I get the feeling they're muttering: “Thinks she's something special”.’

‘They're just jealous,’ she said, seeing me to the door. ‘They know we all left the starting blocks together and they want to know why they haven't gone as far, that's all.’

I shot her a grateful look as we emerged on the doorstep together in the sunshine. Suddenly I remembered my promise to Anna; wondered if this was a good moment. I hesitated.

‘By the way, Anna's got a bit of a bee in her bonnet about riding at the moment.’

‘Oh?’

‘She's had quite a lot of lessons now and I just wondered… well, she's terribly keen to join the Pony Club.’

‘The Pony Club?’

‘Yes, and you're on the committee, aren't you? So I wondered…’

‘But she doesn't live round here. It's all done locally, Evie. Neighbouring farms, that sort of thing.’

‘I know, but I thought she could cycle.’

‘Where?’

‘Um, here. It's only about twenty minutes – well, half an hour. Or she could get the train. At weekends. Not every weekend, obviously.’ I was rapidly losing my nerve. My palms felt a bit sweaty. ‘But now and again I thought she could, you know, come across. Have some fun with her cousins.’

Caro folded her arms. Her chin retracted slowly back into her neck. She surveyed me through narrowed eyes.

‘Right,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘So you want me