‘I would have thought it one of those things that’s either true or it’s not,’ Hugo interrupted, leaving the pile of possessions behind to join them, sitting on the sofa beside Alice.

‘OK,’ Aaron allowed, wondering whether Hugo was ever friendly with anybody. ‘But we ended up sharing property by default, after Alice … split up from my brother.’

‘Split up from’ sounded less incendiary than ‘dumped’, ‘trashed’ or ‘jilted’.

‘Why was that?’ Hugo demanded, folding his arms. ‘What do you mean by “default”?’

Aaron paused, glancing at Alice. ‘You’re happy to discuss this in front of Hugo and Clancy?’ Obviously, she was, because she’d had enough opportunity to make it otherwise, but Hugo’s manner was so abrasive that he found himself wanting to annoy him by questioning his presence.

Alice shrugged.

He turned back to Hugo. ‘When Alice left my brother at the altar of Thornham church, he was distraught. He needed to get away from the village. I bought him out at Roundhouse Row so that he could buy a house elsewhere.’

Hugo frowned down at Alice. ‘Is that right?’

She traced the shape of a shooting star tattooed on her hand. ‘Bit dramatised, but yes.’

From the corner of his eye, Aaron caught Clancy’s eyebrows lifting. ‘How long have you two been married?’ she asked Alice.

‘Three months,’ answered Hugo.

‘Four months,’ said Alice at the same time.

Hugo looked slightly surprised, thought for a moment and said, ‘Yes, four. Middle of April.’

It wasn’t long, but Aaron was pretty sure Alice could have found time before she brought Hugo to Nelson’s Bar to explain her history there. He gritted his teeth and ploughed on. ‘Roundhouse Row has provided us both with income. Are you intending to request changes?’

Alice regarded him from under her brows. ‘I don’t feel a need to get involved, if that’s what you mean. It’s worked perfectly well for the last few years. I’m happy.’

Aaron just bet she was happy with letting other people do all the work. He couldn’t resist pointing out, ‘But the caretaker has always had the Roundhouse in lieu of a proper wage.’

She frowned at Clancy, picking at the sofa more rapidly. ‘Isn’t that what you’re doing? Caretaker?’

Clancy nodded.

Alice frowned at Aaron then, obviously not getting his point. ‘Then that’s OK! Clancy’s my cousin.’

He clarified. ‘The agreement wasn’t for you and your husband to live here too.’

Alice giggled this time, obviously feeling he wasn’t getting the point. ‘But Clancy is my cousin.’

Aaron wanted to ask how that was relevant but as Clancy didn’t, and didn’t look at him to allow him to glean clues from her expression, he set that aside for now. ‘I’ll be straight with you, Alice. Your being here has the potential to upset my brother. I’d like to think that you’ll consider his feelings, and those of my parents.’

At that, Hugo got up, rolling his eyes, and took himself off up the stairs without a word.