58

She flicked through the clothes hanging up—at least half of them she’d never worn—and hesitated over the least formal outfit, the one she and Margaret Winston had decided on for the river cruise Alex had never gone on.

Slim navy trousers with a sea-green blouse and matching espadrilles. Funnily enough, she reflected, it was the most colourful outfit of the lot and Margaret, she remembered, had insisted on it.

Was now the time to be thinking about clothes, though? she mused as she dressed with hands that were slightly unsteady. But she had no idea what was to come, did she?

Max was already in the kitchen when she came down and he’d opened a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. There was also a tray of canapés on the kitchen table that Mrs Mills must have left for him. Tiny cucumber sandwiches, cheese straws, a little bowl of olives, vol-au-vents with savoury fillings, nuts and dried fruits.

He looked up as she came into the kitchen. ‘We could go through to the den.’

‘Here is fin