A week or so after that Polly was sitting alone in her flat, wondering why she felt so nervous, when the expected buzz came. Harry was at the door. She let him in and waited for him to climb the stairs. She was wearing her nicest dress.

Even through the little spyhole in her door Polly recognized Harry immediately. He was like Jack but different, thinner, she thought, leaner, and his hair was longer. Polly opened the door. The eyes were just the same; that same sardonic twinkle. He smiled. She knew that smile also. It was not the same as Jack’s, but similar. Perhaps Polly was fooling herself, but it seemed to her that it was kinder. She stepped back into her flat and let him in.

Ben Elton is one of Britain’s most popular and successful comedians. In addition to his stand-up work, his television credits include The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line. He has written three West End plays – Gasping, Silly Cow and Popcorn – and four previous bestselling novels – Stark, Gridlock, This Other Eden and Popcorn. Ben Elton is married and lives in London.