FOR SOME REASON, Andy Melrose’s wife had recently started describing him in company as a ‘water person’. Perhaps this could sound summery and sporty to others, even vaguely sensual, but he wasn’t sure she was suggesting that, not after twenty-three years. No doubt Lynne meant it critically because she would add, rather smugly, ‘whereas I’m a bush person’. Or sometimes, more specifically (and, he thought, rather preciously), a ‘tree person’.

Was she just saying they gently differed in their interests, like cat people and dog people, or fans of different football codes? Or was she making the point that she was more conscientious and environmentally aware than her husband? Even suggesting that by comparison he was a shallow hedonist.