Jean was not at all convinced of the wisdom of this night out. She looked at her outfit, and then at Lucien in his best suit, and realised that anyone who saw them would not believe for an instant that there was nothing between them. Men didn't take their housekeepers out for a meal in their best clothes, out of friendship alone. And he was still married. She sighed slightly, which did not escape Lucien's notice.

He kept up a stream of conversation, hoping to distract Jean from realising they were going nowhere in particular. As they started approaching their own house again, Jean interrupted the latest anecdote.

"Where are we actually going, Lucien?"

"To the best restaurant in Ballarat. Open for one night only, very exclusive. Courtesy of Cec and the Colonists' Club."

She looked at him curiously as he brought the car to a halt. She really hadn't expected this at all.

"Is it just us?" She sounded hopeful. She didn't really want to share her evening 'out', even with friends.

"Just us," he replied. "Cec is going to serve dinner for us but then he's going home. Alice is on call so we can can relax and the phone shouldn't ring. Now, are you coming in?"

By now he was standing by the car with the passenger door open. Jean took his hand and went with him inside the house and down to his mother's studio. Lucien took her coat and let her go in first, and as she pushed aside the curtain she gasped for a moment.

Charlie and Lucien had moved the furniture so the couch was under the window now, and in front of the fireplace there was a small table laid for two, with a rose in a small vase. The gramophone had been moved into the studio and music was playing quietly in the background. The room was lit with many candles and the fire crackling away, and the flickering light sent beautiful shadows dancing round the room, lighting up the paintings there and giving a warm glow to the room.

"It's lovely," she said. "Thank you for doing all this, Lucien. It's a wonderful idea." She kissed him to thank him, but it turned into a more leisurely, loving kiss, until they heard Cec's footsteps approaching and they moved apart rather reluctantly, and then Lucien drew out Jean's seat for her at the table.

Cec greeted Jean, though she noticed he didn't quite manage to call her Jean. Still, Mrs Beazley was an improvement on 'Sir' which was all he ever called Lucien. He served the food and wine discreetly, then left, saying that he would leave dessert in the kitchen for them to help themselves.

Once he had gone, they both seemed to relax properly. Lucien watched Jean with a growing sense of gratitude. How could he have been lucky enough to find someone as clever and beautiful as Jean, who still loved him despite the unfortunate reappearance of his wife, and now seemed prepared to put up with an unknown delay before they could marry? Before Mei Lin left, he had been so afraid that Jean would move out, move to Adelaide perhaps, to get away from the painful reality of his wife coming back into his life.

"Thank you for staying with me, Jean," he said, and she looked puzzled for a moment, wondering if he was talking about this evening. Then looking at his expression she realised what he meant.

"Oh, that. Well, I probably shouldn't have, but I wasn't brave enough to leave. At least by staying I still saw you." A fleeting grimace passed over her face, and Lucien's heart sank a little. The pain was obviously still rather raw. In time he hoped she would forgive him.

In fact, Jean didn't blame him for what had happened. It had been difficult, but not his fault, and she could see that the love she felt for him had been refined and strengthened in the fire of all that Derek Alderton had planned.

Once the food was finished, Lucien put the plates in the kitchen and they went to sit on the couch together.