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‘You can’t possibly want to marry Piers, Mum!’

‘Why wouldn’t she?’ said Piers. ‘I’m a damned good catch.’

‘Piers did …suggestit yesterday, when we had a little chat, Mark,’ she faltered. ‘But I – I mean, I didn’t say … nothing wasdecided. And …’

She wrung her hands, which I’d never actually seen anyone do before, until River reclaimed the nearest one and patted it soothingly.

‘Since your announcement seems to have taken Sybil entirely by surprise, Piers, perhaps we should postponeyourcelebrations for another time,’ said Clara drily. ‘Let tonight just be for the young ones.’

Piers glared at Sybil and she shrank back towards River, which hardly poured oil on the waters.

‘I thought we were in agreement yesterday that it was the best thing to do,’ Piers said. ‘But perhaps we can have a few moments together now, so I can make my proposal in form.’

‘I doubt there’s any form you can make it in that she’s likely to accept, Piers,’ said Clara. ‘So, come on, everyone, let’s all go into the drawing room.’

Henry turned to Piers and said cunningly, ‘I believe there’s a present for you under the tree in the hall and it looks remarkably like a bottle of whisky.’

Love – or whatever it was – went out of the window as Piers almost knocked his chair over in his eagerness to get his hands on this unexpected prize.

Lex and I helped Den clear the table and load the dishwasher, to the accompaniment of Mark declaring to Zelda that he’dnever let his mother marry Piers and he’d certainly never live under his roof.

He sounded very feudal and lord of the manor. You could practically see the generations of squires lining up behind him, ready to horse-whip someone.

‘Oh, I agree with you, darling,’ Zelda said. ‘But I’m sure she doesn’t want to marry him at all.’

Clara arrived in search of the coffee and, shutting the door behind her, leaned against it and said dramatically, ‘What an ending to the dinner!’

‘What’s happening out there?’ Lex asked.

‘Tottie and River have got Sybil between them on the sofa again, so ghastly Piers can’t get near her, and Henry gave him a large drink to keep him quiet. Now Rollo’s telling Henry about his poetry magazine, but as soon as we’ve had the coffee, I’ll get rid of the guesthouse contingent, though, of course, we don’t want to get rid ofyou, Mark.’

‘I’d like to get rid of Piers permanently!’ he said savagely. ‘I can’t imagine what on earth Mum is thinking of.’

‘Well, as to that, I meant to have a little chat with her after Christmas, because he does seem to have an unhealthy influence over her. But don’t worry, because Sybil doesn’twantto marry him at all. I’ll have to bring that little talk with her forward to tomorrow morning and get to the bottom of it all.’

I sincerely hoped the little talk wouldn’t also cover the question of whether Sybil had tried to push me off the hill. Really, I thought, it would be best forgotten and I certainly didn’t want poor Mark to know about it.

‘I’m sure you and Zelda will be very happy, Mark,’ Clara said. ‘And Flora strikes me as just right for Rollo, don’t you think, Meg?’

‘Yes, I’m sure she’ll turn into a clone of his mother and they’ll manage him between them.’

Zelda got up. ‘Come on, let’s take the coffee through and act out this final scene and then we can all relax.’

The welcome sound of Flora’s car receding into the distance was music to our ears. Our farewells had been enthusiastic.

‘Thank God they’ve gone,’ said Clara, settling back by the fire with a sigh of satisfaction.

Sybil had vanished up to her room in the flurry of the departure, but Tottie said she was all right and would be down later.

‘But she can’t possibly want to marry that man.’

‘No, of course she doesn’t. He must be holding some threat over her head but we’ll find out what it is tomorrow, before the party. I don’t want to upset Sybil any more tonight.’

‘I’ll come over early, then,’ said Mark.

‘Really, darling, it’s hardly worth your going back to Underhill,’ said Clara. ‘You might as well have come to stay when Sybil did.’

‘I know, but I hadn’t factored in falling for Zelda when it was arranged,’ he said, his scowl dispelled by an engaging grin.