She looked. The sun, which had been sulking, suddenly pierced the cloud base, turning the sea to silver and tingeing the distant islands with gold. The beauty of it made her catch her breath. Part of her longed to photograph it, but mostly she just wanted to look, take it in and remember it. She sighed so deeply it became a yawn.

Rory glanced at her. ‘You must be tired. But we’re nearly there now. When you’ve got settled and had a drink, you’ll feel better.’

‘I am a bit worn out. It was an early start this morning and I haven’t been sleeping well.’

‘That Molly snored, did she?’

‘I didn’t tell you that, did I? How dreadfully disloyal.’

‘I just guessed. Well, you’ve a choice of two bedrooms’ – he shot her a look – ‘not including mine. You can choose which one you like best.’

‘How kind.’ Was he tactfully telling her that his bedroom wasn’t an option for her, or that she had plenty of choice without having to sleep with him? She suddenly wished for a more misspent youth; she might be better at the subtext. As it was, the social niceties of running away with a man you didn’t know were pretty much a mystery to her.

‘Well.’ He grinned at her. ‘You won’t be wanting to jump into bed with me until you’ve had a chance to check out how often I take a bath, or if I snore worse than Molly and things like that. Will you?’

His grin, his sympathetic understanding and the fact that the world was now tinged with pink and gold from the setting sun made her feel her mad impulse was justified.

It was a cottage more than a house, almost on top of the beach. A long green lane ran down to where it hugged the ground, long and low with white walls, grey slate roof and a blue front door. She stood in the garden, looking at a gate framed by two thick, tall bushes, through which she could see the beach and the silver sea.

‘The view’s even better from my studio, on the hill up there.’

‘I can see why you would want to live here. It’s so beautiful.’

‘Come inside. It’s too chilly to be admiring the view from out here, when you get just as good a one from the kitchen window.’

They were greeted by a huge, deep barking.

‘Enough to put the fear of God into you,’ said Rory. ‘But she’s a sweet thing, really. Ready to have puppies any day now.’

He opened the front door and a dog the size of a small sofa tottered out, unable to jump up because of her huge bulk. She was definitely smiling and greeted Thea with just as much enthusiasm as Rory.