It was more of a haul than a crawl, but at least he was well ahead of her. She wished she’d put on her jeans, until she got upstairs and realised how hot it was. It had been blissfully cool in the basement, but now the full heat of the summer night hit her. ‘God, it’s hot up here,’ she said, collapsing back into her chair.

‘But it’s a dry heat. The varnish should go off quickly. Now, what do you want? Cod or plaice? I brought the salt and vinegar separately as I didn’t know what you liked.’

‘Give me a cold can and whatever’s nearest.’ She opened the can and took a long cool draught. ‘That is so good! I feel like an advertisement for the stuff.’

‘I felt the floor while you were coming upstairs. It’s nearly dry. It’ll be ready for another coat by the time we’ve eaten.’

‘Oh, good. I’m aiming for about five coats eventually.’ She ate a bit of fish and suddenly found she was hungry.

‘And you were going to work all through the night?’

‘I find it quite difficult to sleep in this heat anyway,’ she said with her mouth full, ‘and what with lying on quite a hard floor with only a sleeping bag, I didn’t really think I’d do more than doze. I’d just listen to the World Service and lie there, picking my teeth. You’re not eating. Was it something I said?’

He smiled and shook his head. ‘Too hot.’

‘What, the weather, or the chips?’

He ignored her question. ‘You’re very committed to this gallery, aren’t you?’

She nodded. ‘It’s the first time in years I’ve really felt I’m doing the right thing. I mean, I loved doing the artistic side of the photography, but I was hopeless at the hard-nosed journalist bit. And even when I did it, it wasn’t totally satisfying artistically. With this I feel I can really have fun.’ She sighed. ‘I just hope Rory doesn’t pull out.’

‘He might.’

‘I know and he’d be perfectly entitled to. At the moment I’m relying on him still hating the London art scene enough to stick with me.’ She bit her lip and gave a little smile. ‘Fingers crossed.’

‘How would you feel if he did abscond, after all the work you’ve put in?’

‘Terrible, but as it was me who wanted to do it, I can’t really blame him. Which is why Molly and I’ve decided not to put all our eggs in Rory’s basket.’ She took another thirst-quenching sip. ‘At first, he was the reason I wanted to open a gallery, but now I’ve started doing all this I’ve realised what a waste it would be. Even if I could pay Molly back on what I earn from Rory, we can’t just stop there.’