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was doing at the dinner at all if he didn ’ t work for the company.
    As the main course of Beef Wellington was served, he asked her what she worked at. She told him about the salon and kept him amused with some of the funnier antics of the clients. He seemed genuinely interested and laughed a deep husky laugh, throwing his head back as he did so.
    The red wine which was served with the beef was wonderful. “ I ’ ve never tasted such heavenly wine !” Ellie sighed with pleasure as she sipped.
    Frank, who overheard this remark, spoke. “ You have Sam here to thank for that. He supplies all my wines. He has a wine business .”
    “ Really? ” Ellie was surprised. “ Is that what you do? ” Now she understood why he ’ d been invited to the dinner. “ I know nothing about wine whatsoever except that I love the wine we ’ re drinking tonight. ”
    “ You should take one of Sam ’ s wine courses, ” Anna said, from across the table. “ I took one last year. He ’ s brilliant! ” She beamed at him and he seemed embarrassed at the compliment.
    “ Where do you have them? ” Ellie asked Sam .
    “ In Clontarf. I ’ ve actually got one starting quite soon .”
    “ Gosh! That would be handy. ” This was fate again. “ Can you tell me about it ?”
    “ Sure. Better still, I ’ ll give you my card and you can check the courses out on my website .” He fished a card out of his pocket and handed it to her.
    “ Thank you, I will, ” she said , putting his card in her bag. “ Actually, I made a major faux-pas tonight, ” she whispered to him. “ I asked Judith for a glass of chardonnay and she informed me that she doesn ’ t do chardonnay. I nearly died. ”
    “ Don ’ t mind her! Poor Judith doesn ’ t know the first thing about wine. ” Ellie detected a note of disdain in his voice. “ In fact, the white wine we had with the lobster was Chablis which is actually made from chardonnay grapes, but of course she doesn ’ t realise that. ”
    “ I didn ’ t know that either, ” Ellie admitted.
    “ I think you really should join my course so, ” Sam said teasingly.
    “ Maybe I will, ” she replied, rising to the challenge. “ Tell me more. ”
    Sam then started to talk about wine and she could see how passionate he was about it. His face was animated and his eyes aglow as he explained how wines were made and what made them different from one another. Ellie was fascinated. She ’ d never realised that it was such an interesting subject. She decided then and there that she would definitely join Sam ’ s wine course. After all, if she was going to have to attend more of these parties in the future, she ’ d need to educate herself about such things. She smiled happily , thinking how pleased David would be with her when she told him .

    6
    Zita Williams looked on as Rachel Dunne was being interviewed for the television news. What an airhead, she t hought disgustedly, listening to Rachel enthuse about the work of the Rape Crisis Centre. What the hell does she know about it? She was sick of seeing photos of Little-Miss-Perfect and her oh-so-handsome husband plastered all over the papers every weekend. What had Rachel Dunne ever done but look beautiful and snap up a gorgeous husband?
    Following the TV interview , Rachel was now giving an interview to a popular women ’ s magazine. Zita snorted as she listened to Rachel going on about her busy days and how chock-a-block her diary was.
    “ But I do try and make time for myself, ” she added, smiling graciously at the interviewer . “ Last year I did a Fine Arts course and I ’ ve enrolled on a wine course this year as it ’ s a subject I ’ m really interested in. ”
    “ How lovely, ” the interviewer said. “ And where are you doing this course? ”
    “ At Château Wines in Clontarf – I ’ m so looking forward to it, ” Rachel enthused.
    The interview finished and just then Rachel ’ s husband, Carl, appeared at her side and kissed her on