'This woman's child is seriously ill in hospital. If I don't find her she may not get there in time.'

A long pause, then, 'I'll radio Abdul.' Another wait, this time so long Thea was about to hang up and try again when he finally came back on. 'He took her to the Sanition Gallery in Regent's Park.'

Thea couldn't find a number for the gallery, most probably because, as a temporary structure, it didn't have one. Cursing, she called Brigita again.

'How's she doing?'

'She's not good. She's on a life-support machine. If she doesn't respond they say they may have to amputate her leg to stop the infection.'

'Oh, f.u.c.k,' Thea said. 'I'm getting in my car.'

It took forty minutes to get to Regent's Park, not bad by London standards but an age in the circ.u.mstances. Thea cursed at every traffic light, wished unpleasant venereal diseases on giggling couples who ambled lovingly across every zebra crossing. Even when she arrived, she had to drive round four times before she found somewhere to park. Having finally manoeuvred the car into a s.p.a.ce intended for a baby buggy, she jumped out and sprinted through the metal gates into the park, past gangs of friends enjoying picnics in the twilight, towards the big, white marquee.

'Sorry,' said a security guard sticking a burly arm in front of her.

'Invitation please.'

'I forgot it.'

Scornfully, he eyed the make-up-less face, the still damp hair, the threadbare jeans and dirty sweatshirt. 'No ticket, no entry, love.'

'No, you don't understand! You have to let me in. My... my friend's friend's at a party in there, but her daughter's really sick in hospital. I have to let her know.' at a party in there, but her daughter's really sick in hospital. I have to let her know.'

'Yeah, yeah, now I've heard it all.'

'Do you think I'd try to gatecrash your stupid party dressed like this?'

He shrugged. 'People do the strangest things to be in the same room as Kate Moss.' He turned his back to her.

'For Christ's sake,' Thea cried, 'a child is dying here.'

He turned back. 'You're sick trying that.'

Suddenly Thea understood how people found the strength to lift cars and rescue bodies trapped beneath. Dipping her head, she charged at the bouncer, ducking beneath his arms.

'Oi! You stupid cow! Come back.' He started running after her, but Thea was inside the marquee. A band was playing and the dance floor was crowded. Thea virtually dived into the middle of it, then started weaving her way in and out of the dancers. 'Excuse me,' she said as Elle Macpherson screeched in pain at her squashed foot. 'Excuse me.'

And there Poppy was, in the middle of the floor, moving woodenly to the beat. For a second, Thea stopped and watched. She was so pretty, but she looked so lost. Once again, much as she would have liked to despise Poppy Norton, the only emotion Thea felt was pity.

But there was no time for such thoughts now. Thea squeezed past a skinny man in a sarong and shook Poppy on the shoulder.

'Poppy, hey Poppy!'

Poppy looked at her, her eyes as blank as the bullets in a movie gun.

'It's me. Thea. I... Luke's friend.'

Poppy bristled. 'What the h.e.l.l do you want?'

'It's about Clara. She's really ill. In hospital. Meningitis. You have to get there quickly.'

Poppy's face, already pale, turned white.

'Clara?'

'Yes, Clara. Come on. We have to go.'

Poppy didn't move. 'Why didn't Brigita call me? She promised she'd call.'

'She did. You weren't answering.' Thea began dragging her across the dance floor. 'Come on. We have to go.'

'My phone's in the bag in the cloakroom.' Poppy stopped dead and looked into Thea's eyes. 'What a stupid cow I am. How the h.e.l.l could I have done that?'

'It doesn't matter,' Thea said.

'It does. I left it there so I could keep on talking to Toby. I'm an idiot.'

'Come on!' Thea was virtually manhandling her. They stepped out of the marquee.

'There she is!' yelled the bouncer, as he spotted Thea. 'Oi. You cheeky cow.'

'Oh b.u.g.g.e.r off,' Thea snapped over her shoulder, as she pulled a still semi-frozen Poppy across the sun-scorched gra.s.s. 'Come on on. I'm going to drive you to the hospital.' She stepped out of the gates she'd come in by, pointing her keys in the direction where she'd left her car.

No beep.

'What the f.u.c.k?' Thea knew immediately what had happened. She'd slammed the door without locking it, as if she were a character in a movie. But unlocked cars in central London didn't stick around for long. Still, she'd worry about that later.

'We'll get a taxi,' she said, looking round. Nothing with a light on. 'Come on. We'll have to run down to Baker Street and find one.'

'Poppy?' said a man's voice behind them. Thea looked round. A middle-aged blond guy in a suit was grinning at them, as he locked the doors of his Skoda. 'You're not leaving the party already, are you? I've only just got here.'

'Charlie!' Poppy exclaimed and burst into tears.

'Are you OK?'

'No, I'm not. Clara's in hospital and we can't find a taxi.'

Charlie's sack-of-potatoes face crumpled. 'Don't worry,' he said. 'I'll take you there.'

From the front seat of Charlie's car, Poppy twisted round to interrogate Thea.

'What about Luke?'

'He should be there by now. I can't call him because he left his mobile behind.' She pulled it out of her bag. 'I'll try Brigita again though.'

'How could I have done this?' Poppy gibbered. 'I'm a bad mother, a bad, bad mother.'

'No you're not,' Charlie said. 'You only went to a party.'

'But Clara was sick. I should have known.' She turned back to Thea.

'Thank you for coming to find me,' she said. 'It was so sweet of you.' Before Thea could work out how to reply to this, they were pulling up outside the hospital.

48.

It was noon the following day but to Poppy and Luke time had stopped. They were living in a stifling new world of linoleum floors, the sound of wailing in corridors, hushed voices, an overwhelming odour of bleach and fear, and cold toast arriving at odd hours. In the harsh glare of the hospital strip lighting, Clara looked even more beautiful and more fragile than when she was newly born. Eyes shut, a tube in her nose, a needle at the end of another tube in her arm, the only sound in the room was the flashing and beeping of the monitor and of Poppy sobbing softly.

'It's all right,' said Luke, putting his hand on her arm. 'She's getting antibiotics through the drip and they're going to make her better. They caught it just in time.'

'Suppose they hadn't?' Poppy stroked her daughter's forehead. She'd been there all night, a night that had seen Clara endure a lumbar puncture and a couple of terrifying hours on a life-support machine. She would keep her vigil until her child was completely cured.

'Oh my darling, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry I wasn't with you,' she whispered again. She looked at Luke. 'Brigita did a great job getting her to hospital.'

'I know.'

'And Thea did a great job tracking us both down.'

'She did.' Then Luke said wryly, 'I'm not surprised. She's a brilliant journalist.'

'She was so sweet to me,' Poppy said. 'I thought she was a cow before, but last night she was a star.' A pause and then she said, 'But... how did she know Clara was ill?' In all the uproar, it hadn't crossed her mind to ask.

Luke said nothing.

'Of course, Brigita tried to track you down through the office.' Poppy smiled at her powers of deduction. 'She was probably in such a state she forgot you weren't there any more.'

'That's right,' Luke said, to the sound of a commotion outside the door.

'Poppy, darling. Poppy, are you in here? With my gorgeous Clarabelle?' Louise burst into the room, followed by Gary. 'Oh Christ!' she yelled at the sight of her granddaughter. 'So it's true!' She flung herself on Gary and began weeping noisily. 'Oh my G.o.d, oh my G.o.d. What am I going to do?'

'What's happened?' Gary asked, looking over Louise's heaving shoulders at Poppy.

'She'll have to stay in a few days, but they say she's going to be fine.'

'Oh my G.o.d! I've been crucified with worry! Crucified!'

'But I told you she was on the mend, Mum.'

'I had to see for myself.' Louise shook her head. 'Thank G.o.d Gary had come over to watch the golf and could drive me here because I was in no fit state to go anywhere.'

'Well done, Gary,' Poppy said.

He nodded curtly.

'I've never been in such agony in my life.'

'Clara must have had it tough too,' Gary said. For the first time in the past twelve hours, the faintest of smiles crossed Luke's face. There was a knock on the door. 'Come in,' he said, expecting one of the doctors. But instead, Charlie's head appeared. He too, looked as if he'd had a sleepless night.

'Hey, guys. Sorry to disturb. I just wanted to check everything was OK now.'

'You're not going to print this in the paper are you?' said Luke with narrowed eyes.

'Luke! Of course he's not.' Poppy was furious. 'Clara's on the mend now. Thank you so much Charlie for all your help last night.' She stepped forward and hugged him.

'It was my greatest pleasure,' Charlie said, just as Louise gave a little stifled scream.

'Charles Grimes?'

Charlie stiffened.

'Yes,' he said uneasily.

Under her fake tan, Louise had turned white.

'You know who I am, don't you?'

Poppy looked at them both, baffled.

'Or do you need some reminding?' Louise was asking. 'Ronnie's bar in St Tropez. Early eighties. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes. Me with a big floppy bow in my hair. A studio flat above the Chinese restaurant. Six glorious weeks until you disappeared into the ether and left me up the duff.'

Charlie looked at the floor.

'I know. I worked it out the other day. Lulu Price.'

'The very same.' Louise turned to Poppy. Her mouth was strangely twisted. 'I sincerely hope there's nothing going on between you and this man because he's your father.'

49.

Clara stayed in hospital for a week. Horrified by how close she'd come to losing her, Poppy scarcely moved from her bedside. Thanks to Luke's very public summons in the theatre, the papers were full of the story of the Cad and the Bimbo's mercy dash to hospital, but within a few days Paris Hilton found a new boyfriend and the world moved on to other stories.

Poppy and Luke spent more time with each other than at any other point in their short marriage and when Clara was sleeping, they talked far more than they ever had before.

'We both know it's not working,' she said. 'I married you for all the wrong reasons. I wasn't ready to be a wife. I needed someone to protect me. And you only married me because I was pregnant.' As Luke tried to protest she held up her hand to silence him. 'You did. That was very n.o.ble of you, but it wasn't fair. I did a bad thing and all I can do to remedy it is to set you free; let you go back to your old life.'

'I don't think that's an option.'

'I'll move out of the flat,' Poppy continued. 'Find somewhere to live with Clara. You can see her whenever you like.'