‘Checking out. No point in buying something if it’s never going to get planning permission. So how did setting up a different loom go?’

‘Well! Although it took me a while to find my way around it, and I had forgotten quite how long it takes to thread a loom with thread so fine. I reckon I can get three good scarf lengths out of every time I thread the loom, but I am going to have to charge a lot to make it worth it.’ She took a large bite of her sandwich and sighed happily.

‘But there’s the honour of being in the show?’ He put down a full glass of red wine and she knew it was her favourite.

She took another bite before answering. He did have a way with a sandwich: the right bread, the right condiments, all perfectly balanced. ‘There is, but you can’t pay your bills with honour, can you? You have to have actual money as well. There’s no point in creating beautiful pieces if people won’t pay enough for them.’

‘But didn’t Amy feel fairly sure you’d make back your thousand pounds without difficulty?’

‘Amy is dreadfully optimistic!’

‘When I last looked, being optimistic wasn’t considered a bad thing,’ said Jago.

Helena looked at him, biting her lip to hide her smile. ‘There’s being optimistic and being foolhardy. And that was possibly the most delicious sandwich I’ve ever eaten.’

He nodded gravely. ‘You were hungry. That helps.’

Over the following days, Helena hardly stopped weaving. Jago brought her food during the day and dragged her to the table for the evening meal. She sent her mother a text to say she was fine but working very hard. She didn’t tell her how late and long her hours were. Mothers didn’t need to know everything.

Chapter Eighteen

Helena having to weave day and night was a relief to Gilly. It meant she wouldn’t have time to wonder about what her mother was up to. Gilly did her bit to support her daughter, sending over casseroles which, she realised, mostly helped Jago, who seemed to have taken on the feeding role. But she was glad not to have her daughter’s beady eye upon her. While she was very nearly 100 per cent sure she didn’t want to go out with Leo any more, she was curious. He had more or less asked her to live with him and yet he hadn’t tried to seduce her. So what was going on?