‘His name is Ulysses,’ said Gilly.

But Leo was still measuring. ‘It’s a good size, certainly,’ he said, referring to the kitchen, not the cat. ‘Range cookers are always popular.’

‘Helena – that’s my daughter – said that one cost the same as a small cottage. I’m not sure what part of the country you’d have to be in to get a cottage for that price, but it was very expensive.’ Gilly paused. ‘But it’s in use all the time. I do evening meals as well as bed and breakfast.’

‘No island?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘I prefer a kitchen table that you can move if necessary. Once an island, always an island, and it would annoy me if I had to keep walking round it.’

‘To be honest, if you did sell, whoever bought it would probably rip out the kitchen and start again,’ said Leo, not unsympathetically. ‘I like the mix of free-standing and fitted units myself but people are very into sleek white cupboards with invisible catches.’

‘I’ve never been a fan of integral dishwashers and things. I like a fridge to look like a fridge!’

‘Some of the modern kitchens I see, it all looks like a fridge,’ said Leo.

‘I wouldn’t be without my dresser,’ said Gilly, looking at the huge old bit of furniture that her father had had built in when he and his wife first bought the house. It took up an entire wall and swallowed up a vast amount of crockery, dozens of mugs and jugs that hung on the hooks that edged each shelf and a fair amount of clutter that was stuffed into the cupboards. It was her work of art and she loved it as if it was a family pet. Just the thought of having to live without it made Gilly shudder. It would never fit in that granny annexe her daughter-in-law had been so keen for her to live in.

Gilly cleared her throat. The tour had taken quite a long time, there was a lot of house and it seemed natural, now, to add, ‘Would you like a glass of wine?’

Leo smiled and shook his head. ‘Driving. But I’d love a cup of tea and maybe a piece of the shortbread you put in every room.’

‘There’s always plenty of that,’ said Gilly. ‘Let’s go through to the conservatory and look at the view,’ she said, putting two mugs and a plate of biscuits on a tray.

He took the tray from her hands. ‘Lead the way,’ he said.

Gilly had the very short time it took them to go from one room to another to work out why she found these words so very sexy.

Chapter Six