I have had, in the years since, a certain amount of praise for what I did in the next ninety seconds, and I want to decline it properly here at the start rather than at the end, because it is the honest thing and because this account is not going to work if I let anybody think I am a man with good instincts.

I did not have a plan.

I did not think clearly.

What actually happened in my chest was closer to a lift dropping, and what I said out loud was nothing at all, for about six seconds, because I could not think of a single sentence that would not make it worse.

What I finally said was: “Okay.

Thank you for telling me.”

Her face did something complicated.