The colour left her face. 'Louise! What on earth are you talking about?' she said shakily. 'I don't believe you. If this is one of your sick jokes ...'

'It's no joke. I tell you, I saw them with my own eyes,' I told her. 'Do you want me to come back with you? If he denies it, I'll tell him what I've told you.'

'No! Please go now, Louise. I'll handle this on my own. It's between Simon and me.'

'Are you sure?'

'More than sure.'

I was a bit disappointed. I'd been looking forward to seeing the perfect Simon get his comeuppance. 'Well, if you want me you know where I am.'

'I do.' Karen tapped the steering wheel impatiently. 'Please, Louise, if you don't mind.'

'OK, I'm going.' I got out and bent to speak to her through the car window. 'I'm here till the weekend so if you need ...' Before I could finish the sentence, she was revving up the car and I had to leap back to avoid the car as it sped off. I stared after it. Well, that was grat.i.tude for you!

Susan and I were having our evening meal when we heard a key grating in the front door. Susan looked up.

'That will be Karen,' she said. 'She's the only other person who has a key. I wonder what she's doing here at this time of the evening.' She got up from the table. 'I hope nothing's wrong.'

Your smug little lives have hit the skids this time, I said inwardly.

Karrie burst into the room before Susan could reach the door. Her face was crimson and she was breathing heavily.

'You b.i.t.c.h!' she yelled at me. 'You interfering, trouble-making b.i.t.c.h!'

I stared at her, spreading my hands. 'What am I supposed to have done?'

'You put two and two together and made a hundred and four,' she said. 'Can you imagine how I looked, bursting in and accusing Simon and Adrey of adultery?'

'It was no more than they deserved,' I said. I hadn't mentioned the occurrence to Susan and now she was looking from one to the other of us with a shocked expression, at a loss to know what was going on.

'Will someone please tell me what this is about?' she demanded.

Karen looked at her. 'She ...' She pointed her finger at me. 'She stopped me on my way home this afternoon to tell me that she had seen Simon kissing Adrey in our kitchen.'

Susan gasped. 'Oh my G.o.d!'

'He wasn't kissing her,' Karen went on. 'He was comforting her because she was upset. She'd just received a telephone call from home to tell her that her father had died. Can you even begin to imagine how that made me feel?'

'And you believed him?' I said. 'A likely story if you ask me.'

'Well, I'm not asking you,' Karrie shouted. 'And it's true. She's packing to go home for the funeral as we speak.' She took a step towards me. 'Your trouble, Louise, is that you think everyone is as nasty and devious as you are. Every time you come home there are ructions. The last time you almost had me locked up and now this! It's going to take me a long time to put things right this time. Adrey has already said she won't be coming back and Simon won't even speak to me. And it's all down to you!'

Her hands were clenching and unclenching, and I thought for a moment she was going to hit me until Susan stepped forward and took her arm.

'Calm down, darling,' she said. 'I know you're upset but I'm sure Louise only meant it for the best ...'

'The best?' Karrie screamed. 'Don't try to stand up for her, Mum. She causes chaos wherever she goes. She thrives on it does it on purpose. If you take my advice you'll kick her out. I know one thing I'll never speak to her again.' She shook off Susan's restraining hand. 'It's all right. I'm going now. Give me a ring when you've got rid of her. Goodnight, Mum.'

Susan went to the door to see Karrie out. When she came back, her face was grave. 'Why, Louise?' she asked.

I shrugged. 'I know what I saw.'

'And you actually saw them kissing?'

'He was holding her,' I hedged. 'She had her face close to his. They were about to kiss. I'd lay odds on it.'

'So you didn't actually witness a kiss between them?'

I got up from the table. 'Why split hairs? It was obvious what was going on. If Karrie wants to bury her head in the sand; if she wants to let him get away with it, then it's her funeral. I should have ...'

'You should have minded your own business,' Susan finished for me. She began to clear the table. 'I think it might be best if you left first thing in the morning, Louise,' she said quietly. 'Karen was right, unfortunately. There always seems to be trouble when you're around.'

'I'll do better than that,' I told her. 'If this is all the thanks I'm going to get for telling the truth then I'll go now. I can catch the last London train at ten o'clock and be back before midnight.'

Susan didn't argue. 'As you wish,' she said.

It was really late when I got back to Stoke Newington. I wasn't looking forward to going back to my dingy bedsit and as I climbed the stairs wearily, I told myself I'd be glad to be out of the place. I rummaged in my bag for my key but when I went to put it in the lock the door swung open. Inside I found chaos. I'd been burgled. I stood, staring around me in disbelief. The place had been well and truly turned over, drawers pulled out and the contents strewn everywhere. The bed had been stripped; cupboards emptied. I pushed the door closed and it was only then that I saw that it had been forced. I couldn't even secure it for the night. I pulled the chest of drawers across to block the doorway, then sat down on the bed and surveyed the mess. What a horrible week it had been, and now to come back to this. Luckily, there had been nothing of any value in the room. Certainly no money, but the feeling that someone had been here could possibly come back gave me the horrors. My first thought was for Mark. I needed him needed someone kind and sympathetic. I took out my phone and selected his number. After a few rings, a woman's sleepy voice answered.

'h.e.l.lo, Mark Naylor's flat.'

'I need to speak to Mark,' I said. 'Tell him it's Louise.'

'Isn't it rather late to be ringing?' the voice enquired. 'It's almost one a.m. We were asleep.'

'I'm sorry, but this is an emergency. Who am I speaking to?'

'This is Cathy, Mark's sister,' she said. 'Mark isn't here, he's gone away for a few days. Is there anything I can do?'

My heart sank. 'No, not really. When will he be back?'

'Tomorrow evening. A friend invited him to go up to Scotland for a few days.'

'Oh dear.' I swallowed hard. 'The fact is, I've just come back from a few days away and I've been burgled. The place is in a terrible state and I don't know what to do.'

'Have you rung the police?'

'No. I can't see the point. We're off down to Bournemouth in a couple of days and I'd have to go through all that red tape. Besides, as far as I can see nothing's been stolen.'

'OK, I'll get Mark to come over to you as soon as he gets back. Does he have your address?'

'No. It's room three, fourteen Mason Street, Stoke Newington.'

'Right. I've got that.'

'Thanks.' I switched off my phone and lay down on the rumpled bed, feeling totally sick. I'd been fobbing Mark off about my so-called 'flat' for weeks and now he was going to see this horrible room. But I was past caring. Thank G.o.d we were off down to Bournemouth in a few days and leaving it all behind. This had been the worst week of my life. Why had everyone been so b.l.o.o.d.y awful to me? I'd only done what anyone else would have done under the circ.u.mstances, and anyway, it was time they were all jolted out of their little suburban heaven, d.a.m.n them!

Chapter Eighteen.

Karen had given Peter his tea early, bathed him and put him to bed. He'd just about worn her out today, whingeing and crying for Adrey all day. Simon had insisted that she stay at home to look after him. There had been a horrible scene about it last night when she got home from Susan's flat. Karen shuddered at the memory.

By the time she'd arrived home Adrey had gone. Simon had put Peter in his car seat and driven her to the station. He was waiting for her when she got back from her mother's. She found him sitting in the living room with a face like thunder and the moment she got in, he started.

'I hope you're proud of yourself!'

Karen began to take off her coat. 'Well, I'm sorry but Louise was certain you were kissing her,' she said. 'How was I to know...?'

'You didn't wait to find out, did you,' Simon stormed. 'Just came steaming in, throwing accusations around like confetti. That poor girl! It was the last thing she needed, or deserved after the news she'd just had.'

Karen winced. 'I know that now and I'm really sorry.'

Simon snorted. 'Too little, too late. She won't be coming back, thanks to you!'

Karen hung up her coat and came back to sit down opposite Simon. 'Well, I'll write a letter of apology to her.'

'I'm sure that will be a big comfort to her but you still won't get her back,' he said sarcastically. 'She said she'd have to stay anyway, to support her mother.'

'Oh, then it isn't all my fault?'

'So you think that makes it all right then, do you? Bursting in and accusing the poor girl of seducing your husband. And have you even given a thought to how humiliating it was for me?'

'I've said I'm sorry.'

'Have I ever given you any reason not to trust me?'

'No.'

'Then why start now at the worst time possible? And since when have you taken anything Louise said as gospel?'

Karen sighed. 'I don't know. I was tired, I suppose. Adrey is very pretty and just lately ...'

'Just lately you've had no time for me or Peter. You're always too tired and preoccupied. You were suffering pangs of guilt, that's it, isn't it?' Karen's shoulders drooped and he went on: 'Incidentally, in case you're wondering, I put Peter to bed. You're so self-centred you haven't even enquired about your son!'

'Well, I guessed you'd put him to bed, obviously. And I told you, I'll write to Adrey and apologize. I suppose we'll have to get Peter into a nursery now,' she said, half to herself. 'Either that or ask Mum to-'

'Oh no! We'll do nothing of the sort,' Simon broke in. 'From tomorrow you'll be taking care of him.'

Her eyes widened. 'But that's not possible. What about my cla.s.s?'

'I'll get a supply teacher in until I can replace you. You're packing the job in right away, Karen; at least until Peter goes to school. I've had enough. You're a wife and mother. That should take priority.'

So here she was, stuck in the house all day with a fractious child and a whole heap of ironing that Adrey hadn't had time to do before she left. And all thanks to Louise. Karen ground her teeth at the thought of how much she'd like to wring her sister's neck. Why had she believed what she said? She had to admit that Simon had been right. If she faced up to the truth she knew it. She had been neglecting her home and family lately. Once home from school, she had been too tired to play with Peter too tired to listen to Simon's news when he came home, and at bedtime, too tired to make love. It was weeks since she had shared any intimate moments with Simon and if he had strayed she knew that she would only have had herself to blame.

But to have to stay at home day after mind-numbing day felt like a punishment. Peter was adorable, of course, and she loved him to bits, but to be restricted to the conversation one could have with a two-year-old, or, worse, with the other mothers cl.u.s.tered round the swings in the park, obsessed with which supermarket was the cheapest or which were the best nappies, was enough to drive her mad. A wail from upstairs told her that Peter was awake and demanding attention again. She sighed. Maybe she'd put him in his buggy and walk round to her mother's. It would pa.s.s the afternoon and by the time she got home it would be Peter's teatime.

Susan was pleased to see them both and immediately put the kettle on for the inevitable cup of tea.

'What are you doing home at this time of day?' she asked as Karen took off Peter's coat.

'Simon has insisted that I give up my job now that Adrey has left,' Karen told her. 'She's not coming back. Thanks to Louise I made a complete fool of myself yesterday. That poor girl had just received a devastating telephone call and then I burst in with my accusation. Simon was absolutely incandescent with rage when I got back, and that was when he insisted that I give up the job at once and became a full-time mother.'

Susan smiled sympathetically. 'Well, I can't really say I blame him, dear,' she said. 'Peter needs his mum and you know, you never get these lovely baby years back again.'

Privately Karen thought it was just as well but she didn't say so. Like Simon, Susan held the old-fashioned notion that a woman's place was in the home. 'Peter is missing Adrey,' she told her mother. 'He's been really difficult all morning nearly driven me balmy with his whingeing.'

Susan pulled the little boy onto her knee. 'Poor little chap,' she said, dropping a kiss on the toddler's blond head. 'At this age, stability and routine are important. I'm not surprised he's upset. If you want any help, Karen, you know I'm always willing to lend a hand, don't you?'

Karen smiled. 'Yes, I know you are, Mum, and I'm really grateful. I might take you up on that.'

'It's not as if I'll be doing anything else,' Susan said wistfully. 'Ted came round with a bouquet of flowers while Louise was here one morning. I was out and I'm afraid she told him where to go in no uncertain terms.'

'She had no right to do that,' Karen said. She looked up at her mother. 'Although you weren't going to think of starting the relationship up again, were you?'

Susan sighed. 'I don't know. I really miss him. Maybe I should have given him more of a chance to explain.'

Karen snorted. 'Huh! What's to explain?'

Susan sighed. 'Ah well, I'll never know now, will I?'

'Why can't Louise keep her meddling nose out of other people's business?'

'I think that's what they call the sixty-five thousand dollar question,' Susan said.

Chapter Nineteen.

When there was a ring on my bell on Sat.u.r.day morning, my heart jumped into my mouth. Ever since the break-in, I'd been really nervy and the landlord had refused to do anything about the broken door, saying that it was down to me to get it repaired.

I picked up the entry-phone. 'Who is it?' I called from behind the chest of drawers that had been securing it ever since the break-in.

'It's me Mark.'

With huge relief, I buzzed him in and when I heard him outside, I pushed aside the chest and opened the door. He looked at me quizzically. 'What's with all the furniture removal?'

'Being burgled isn't something to joke about,' I told him. 'As I told your sister, I came back on Thursday night to find the place had been thoroughly gone over and the door still isn't fixed.'

He looked around. 'What are you doing in a dump like this anyway?'