‘I’m sorry,’ she said again, unsure why she was apologising. ‘Do you have a card I could take?’ The first small drops of rain spotted the path and she turned her face to the sky to feel the tiny speckles kiss her cheeks.

‘I’ve run out, I’m afraid, but I can write my details down for you.’

‘Let me get the door open and I’ll find a pencil.’ She found her keys in her coat pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it hard at the point where she knew it always stuck in the frame. It didn’t budge. She tried again. ‘Bother. I usually use the back door because of this.’ She relocked it. ‘Follow me.’

They threaded their way up the path at the side of the house in single file and through the tall gate that led to the back garden. She turned the knob on the scullery door and went in. The man stayed on the back doorstep.

‘Come in! You need to get out of the rain, and I don’t want all the heat to escape.’ She saw him hesitate. ‘Please. It will get cold in here if the door is open, and there’s nothing here worth stealing.’ It was a phrase she had used many times before. She watched his face stiffen, but it was too late to apologise; the damage was done. She rushed on as though the words hadn’t been said. ‘You look cold. And we’ll both get soaked if we stay outside.’

He stepped into the scullery as instructed, and closed the door behind him.

Ann had unlocked the door to the kitchen, and was already at the dresser, opening a drawer. ‘Oh dear, this pencil is blunt.’ She tried another. ‘Blunt again.’ She guddled about in the drawer. ‘I don’t suppose you have a pocket knife? Mine seems to have gone the way of so many things in this house.’

She looked back at him. He was already reaching into his coat pocket. She wondered fleetingly if this was wise, inviting a stranger into the house, and asking him to use a knife, not ten feet away from her. She held out two pencils as evidence.

He looked around the kitchen for a bucket. ‘Will I sharpen them into the grate, to keep things tidy?’

‘Please.’ She reached into the drawer again. ‘I might have a few more here for you, if you don’t mind?’

‘This is an impressive range,’ he said as he moved the heavy fireguard out of the way. ‘More and more people are having these removed and installing new gas cookers instead, but I do like a proper fire in the kitchen.’ He rubbed his hands over the embers.