25 September 2025

Gaynor is obviously preoccupied

There is a knock at the door of Llwyncelyn and when Ffion comes in, she finds that Gaynor is very distracted;  “You did ask me to bring swatches from Llanarthur, didn’t you?”   Gaynor apologises that her mind was far away, 

"Is something wrong?"

so Ffion can clearly see that something is wrong.

"You don't seem like yourself . . ."

She follows Gaynor into the kitchen;  “You don’t seem like yourself – 

". . . are you all right?"

“are you all right?”   

"Shall I make coffee?"

Gaynor picks up the kettle, intending to make a cup of coffee, 

Tom is back

then the door opens and Tom comes in.   

"Discussing wedding dresses?"

He assumes that they are discussing wedding dresses.

“It’s supposed to be bad luck for the groom to see the wedding dress before the big day,” he comments 

Gaynor stares at him . . .

and Gaynor puts down the kettle again, 

. . . then rushes out of the room

before hurrying upstairs.

"Does she know?"

Ffion concludes that she knows about them;  “Does she know?” she demands.

Gaynor goes to her bedroom . . .

Gaynor retires to her bedroom and closes the door, 

. . . takes out the phone . . .

then takes from her pocket the phone she found in the shed.   

. . . and somehow knows the right password

She turns it on and, when prompted for the password, thinks for a moment;  she tries 1, 1, 0, 2, 8, 2, 

She studies the phone

which is the correct password.

"You're being paranoid, Ffion"

Downstairs, Tom insists that Ffion is being paranoid and instructs her to breathe;  “This is how she is sometimes – she has these turns.   Just relax.”

"Who's that at the door?"

Then there is a knock at the door, which makes Ffion even more nervous, so again he tells her that it is OK.   

Mark has come to collect his money . . .

He answers the door to find that it is Mark, calling for payment of the window cleaning bill;  

. . . then notices Ffion 

he is invited in 

. . . which makes her very nervous

and notices that Ffion is there.

“I’ve just come to collect the . . .” Mark begins.

Ffion completes the sentence for him, “The window cleaning money, is it?”   

Tom hands over the money

Tom knows that Gaynor has put it somewhere for him and hands it over.

Ffion explains that she is there to discuss the wedding;  

"Do you have any cash on you?"

Mark asks if she has any cash on her to save him going up to Deri Fawr, but she says that she does not, 

"Who carries cash these days?"

remarking.”Who carries cash these days?”   Now Mark thinks it is about time to leave.

"And he knows as well!"

“And he knows as well!” snarls Ffion, but Tom tries to convince her that he does not.   “Perhaps he told Gaynor that he heard you in Deri Fawr last week!”

"Come on, Ffion – breathe"

Once more, he tells her to breathe, 

"I'm not having a baby, I'm having an affair!"

so she exclaims, “I’m not having a baby, Tom, I’m having an affair!” and is in a state of panic.   

"I'm going to find out what Mark knows"

“Right, I’m going to talk to Mark to find out what he knows.   You could try and find out if Gaynor knows anything.”   

"Everything will be all right"

As she goes, he reassures her that everything will be all right and that she should trust him.

There are footsteps on the stairs

Gaynor has been looking at the phone and hears footsteps coming upstairs, then a tap on her bedroom door, so she hides the phone.   

"Are you all right?"

“Are you all right?” Tom asks, “Ffion had to go – she apologised – Arwen needs a lift.   

"Are you sure you're all right?"

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

"I'm a little light-headed"

She answers that she is just feeling a little bit lightheaded, 

"I'll make some coffee"

so he will go downstairs to make them a cup of coffee.

Ffion goes straight to Maes-y-Deri 

At Maes-y-Deri, where Mark is making himself a cup of tea, Ffion knocks on the door.   

"I had cash after all . . ."

“I’m such a scatterbrain,” she tells him, “I remembered after you left that I had cash after all – it’s no problem – I keep cash in my phone case, just in case and I forgot it was there.   

". . . are you making tea?"

“Are you making a cup of tea?”

Gaynor comes downstairs

When Gaynor comes downstairs, the coffee has been made;  Tom reminds her to reschedule discussing the dresses, 

"What are you not telling me?"

but can see that she is still withholding something.   

"What are you worried about?"

“Right, that’s enough of this – what are you worried about?   

"I want you to share it with me"

“Whatever you think the problem is, I want you to share it with me and we’ll sort it out together.”

Gaynor produces the phone . . .

Once again, she takes the phone from her pocket, 

. . . with its photo of Cheryl and Tom

turns it on and shows it to him.   

He was not expecting that 

It comes as a complete shock to him and he simply looks at her.

Mark wonders if Ffion fancies a Hobnob, but she declines the offer.   

"Let's discuss the elephant in the room"

“OK, let’s discuss the elephant in the room,” she says, “What did you hear the other day?”

"It's none of my business"

Mark insists that it none of his business, 

"I've been feeling quite lonely"

but she goes on, “The thing is, things have been difficult for me over the last few years – I’ve been feeling quite lonely, to be honest.   

"These things happen"

“I started to think I’d never meet anyone – and then this happened.   I’m not proud of it, but these things happen – you’ve been there yourself, haven’t you?”   

"My love life is pretty hopeless"

Mark glumly replies that his love life has been pretty hopeless recently.

At first Tom pleads ignorance

Gaynor demands why the phone was in her shed, but Tom says that he has no idea.   

"I'm worried that she's watching the house"

“I’ve been trying to work out why Cheryl’s phone is here.   I’ve been worried that she’s been watching the house.”   

"That is a possibility"

Tom concedes that it is a possibility.

“But then I opened the phone and saw the messages and the pictures – there’s nothing recent – 

"Perhaps Cheryl didn't send it"

“apart from that message she sent me a few weeks ago.   Then I started to think that perhaps Cheryl did not send that message – possibly someone else is using her phone!”

"Where is she, Tom"

Tom is in rather a predicament here, as Gaynor demands, “Where is she, Tom?”

"I love you"

All he can say on the spur of the moment is, “I love you,” 

"Where is Cheryl?"

so again she asks where Cheryl is.

Some truth – from Tom?

After a few seconds of thought, he replies, “I killed her.”   

Gaynor is dumbfounded

Gaynor is absolutely speechless.

He maintains it was all Cheryl's fault

“Last Christmas, I had planned on having a quiet Christmas, just the two of us.   I had made dinner and everything was fine until she started to drink.   She was upset because you’d found out she wasn’t your sister.”

Gaynor is horrified

Gaynor is looking horrified as he continues, “We had an argument because – well – 

"She was attacking me with a knife"

“she thought I was taking your side and the next thing I knew she was attacking me with a knife.   She was accusing me of still being in love with you;  

"She said she was going to kill me – and you!"

“she said she was going to kill me – and kill you!   She went absolutely crazy!   

"I tried to take the knife out of her hand"

“I tried to take the knife out of her hand and she hit her head on the worktop . . . and . . .”

"I knew they wouldn't believe me"

Gaynor gets up from the table as he goes on that he was going to phone the police at the time, “But I knew they wouldn’t believe that it was an accident – I was scared – I didn’t know what else to do.   

"I didn't mean to kill her"

“She’d been abusing me for years, but I didn’t mean to kill her.”

"Get out!"

Gaynor pulls away from him and snarls at him to get out, then goes through the back door into the garden, 

Tom is in hot pursuit 

with Tom following her.   

She runs through the garden . . .

She runs through the garden 

. . . throwing up in the flower bed

and vomits in the flower bed, then sinks to the ground.   

"It was an accident, Gaynor . . ."

Tom advises her to breathe, pointing out once again that it was an accident;  

". . . you have to understand that!"

“You have to understand that!   I was trying to defend myself.”

"I kept going for you"

Then he tries putting on the tears;  “I’ve been through hell, Gaynor, and I don’t know how, but I kept going for you.   If I had admitted everything at the time it would have caused you too much pain, wouldn’t it?   

"You don't deserve that"

“And you don’t deserve that.”   

Gaynor looks at him with horror

Gaynor looks at him, possibly with disbelief.

"Cheryl was my last chance at happiness"

At Maes-y-Deri, Mark is explaining that Cheryl was his last big chance at happiness.   

"Don't give up hope"

Ffion maintains, “Sometimes things just happen out of nowhere – with people you would never expect, so don’t give up hope.”

"You're not talking about you and me?"

He looks rather puzzled and asks, “You’re not talking about you and me here, are you?”   She assures him that she was not.

"Promise you won't tell anyone"

“Will you just promise me that you won’t tell anyone what you heard?   I’d really appreciate that,” she begs him.   

"As I said, it's none of my business"

He reiterates that it is none of his business.   

"Thank you for the tea"

She gets up and thanks him for the tea, while Mark thanks her for the advice.

"I appreciate it – and so does Tom"

“I really appreciate it – and so does Tom,” she adds.

"Tom?   It was Tom?"

“Tom?   It was Tom?” gasps Mark.

"Why did you pretend she was still alive?"

Sitting out in the garden, Gaynor tells Tom that he could have gone to the police and explained.   “Why did you pretend to me that she was still alive?   

"Why send those messages?"

“Why send those messages?”

"I would have lost you for ever"

“Because I was selfish,” he replies, “The second I told the police, I would have lost you for ever – and she would have had her own way – she would have destroyed our lives.   

"I kept going for you, Gaynor"

“I kept going for you, Gaynor.”

"Where's her body?"

“Where is she?   Where’s her body?” Gaynor demands;  

He looks across at the burial site

he glances across the garden to where the body is actually buried, but tells Gaynor that it is at the reservoir.   

"I was not thinking straight"

He maintains that he took her up there after it happened, because he was not thinking straight.

Gaynor returns to the house

Gaynor gets up and marches straight back to the house, 

Tom looks at where he buried Cheryl

while Tom turns to look at the real burial place.

"Another affair behind Gaynor's back?"r

“You’re having another affair behind Gaynor’s back?” shouts Mark, 

"It was not to spite Gaynor"

but Ffion tries to excuse it by explaining that she did not do it to spite Gaynor.

“So why are you doing it, then?” 

"It's complicated"

and she simply replies that it is complicated.   

"You middle-class people are all the same"

“You middle class people are all the same – you think you’re special, look down your noses at people like me – and then you’re at it every chance you get!   

"There must be someone else to sleep with!"

“There must be someone else to sleep with, other than your friend’s fiancé.”

"Sometimes the attraction is just too strong"

“We weren’t planning on having an affair,” Ffion tells him, “But sometimes the attraction between two people is just too strong.”

"No, a lack of self-control!"

Mark views this somewhat differently;  “No, a lack of self-control and not giving a damn about anyone else is what’s caused this mess!”

Gaynor is given a glass of water

Tom brings Gaynor a glass of water (quite possibly with some addition).  “You do realise if the police had found Cheryl’s body at the time, 

"You would have been the first person they spoke to"

“you would have been the first person they would have spoken to.   Lots of people saw you angry and drunk when you found out she wasn’t your sister.”

"You're welcome to phone the police now"

He picks up the phone from the sideboard and continues, “If you think I’m doing the wrong thing, you’re welcome to phone the police now.”   Of course he is banking on the fact that she will not do that.   “If you do that,  

"You might as well kill me"

“you might as well kill me – just like Cheryl was going to do – and just like I’ve considered doing a hundred times.   Because without you, Gaynor, my life isn’t worth living.”

She runs upstairs again

Gullible Gaynor looks as if she believes all of this, but then pushes him to one side and runs upstairs;  

Tom hopes she has been persuaded

he hopes that his plan has been successful.

"I'm not here to discuss morality"

Meanwhile at Maes-y-Deri, Ffion informs Mark that she is not there to discuss morality with him;  “Just promise you won’t tell Gaynor – I don’t want her to get hurt.”

"It's a shame you weren't thinking about hurting her when . . .

“It’s a shame you weren’t thinking about hurting her when you and . . .”   Mark insists, but she tells him that he has made his point. 

"Tom and I have finished now, anyway"

She declares that she and Tom have now finished anyway and this is never going to happen again.

"And that makes everything all right, does it?"

“Oh – the fact that you’ve finished makes everything all right, does it?   I thought you were better than this, Ffion.”

"Don't ruin this for her"

She tries to argue that it is all in the past – “Tom and Gaynor are happy –   why destroy everyone’s happiness?   Gaynor’s so happy organising this wedding, so don’t ruin that for her.”

"I'll keep your dirty secret – for her sake"

He reluctantly agrees that he will keep her dirty secret – for the sake of Gaynor, 

"Be careful – he can't be trusted"

but warns Ffion to be careful, as Tom cannot be trusted.   She leaves the house.

"A little something to steady your nerves"

Again, Tom comes upstairs to Gaynor, carrying a glass containing some liquid;  “A little something to settle your nerves,” he tells her, 

He picks up the phone

then picks up Cheryl’s phone from the bed.

"Everything I did was for you"

As he looks at it, he informs Gaynor that everything he has done has been done for her.   

"We can choose a better future"

“We woke up this morning with a very bright and happy future in front of us, didn’t we?

“We can’t change the past, but we can choose a better future.”   

He stoops down

He stoops down in front of Gaynor;  

"I knew you wouldn't phone the police"

“I know you’re not going to phone the police, because if you were, you would have done it already.”

He leaves – with the phone"

He leaves the room, taking Cheryl’s phone with him, while Gaynor simply sits on the bed, having not said anything.

He takes out his phone . . .

On his way down the stairs, he hears his own phone ringing so takes it from his pocket 

. . . then closes the door

and goes into the kitchen, closing the door behind him.

"Mark knows"

Ffion is on the phone, informing Tom that Mark knows, “But he’s promised not to tell anyone.”   Tom wonders if they can trust him and Ffion thinks that they can;  

"Does Gaynor suspect anything"

“He said that he does not want to hurt Gaynor – does she suspect anything?”

"She has no idea"

He replies that she has no idea, but was simply feeling lightheaded.   

"Perhaps we should stop"

“Perhaps we should take today as a warning and stop before someone really gets hurt,” Ffion proposes.

"Can I see you soon?"

Yes,” he replies, “But to stop seeing each other would hurt both of us a great deal – can I see you soon?”

"Phone me"

“Phone me,” says Ffion.   

Tom thinks for a moment . . .

Tom thinks for a moment, 

. . . locks the front door . . .

then goes to lock the front door 

. . . and looks upstairs 

and looks upstairs.