TWENTY-THREE
WORCESTERSHIRE, DECEMBER 2022 AD
Reception knew that I was expecting a car at 8.00 pm so they phoned my room,
“Your car has arrived, Ms Ryan.”
I put the last touch to my lipstick and grabbed my silver evening bag. Studying the effect in the mirror, I smiled approval at my low-cut black sheath gown and the usual gold-bar earrings. How would I ever do without them when I returned to being Jake?
In the foyer, I had the surprise of a uniformed chauffeur, who escorted me to the waiting Mercedes. It set the tone for the evening and freed Sir Francis’s hands so that one was soon resting on my knee and I had to remove it when it began to venture higher.
The restaurant must have been the most exclusive in the county. Already, before we were escorted to our tables, champagne arriv
