Thea was certain she could raise the money, and more, from her house, but she couldn’t do it instantly. She drove home, considering her options. She could go to the loan sharks, people who would lend her the money with pleasure and probably let her have it immediately in used notes, but at a rate of interest which would require her to sell her entire house to pay them back. There was Molly, who could probably let her have it immediately and would be happy to wait until she’d arranged a mortgage to get it back, but would then feel she was an equal partner in the project, which might be a dreadful nuisance. There was her mother, who would want Thea to ask her for money, but as she lived on very little, Thea wasn’t prepared to do it. ‘I’ll sleep on it,’ she decided, knowing she’d sleep on a rail if one were offered. ‘And sort it out tomorrow.’

Thea was confident when she walked into the building society the following day. After all, she was a woman of property. It should be a simple matter of borrowing money against the property. The woman she spoke to was young, pretty and efficient. She was also firm. Thea could not have a mortgage, or ‘Personal Finance’ for however little, unless she had a regular income. And she couldn’t say for sure, but she didn’t think lodgers would count.

‘Once you’ve got the money, of course, it’s up to you how you pay it back. But we will need payslips and things to prove what you earn.’ Then, seeing Thea’s desolation, she added, ‘I could refer you to a more senior member of staff. He might have some better suggestions.’

Thea sighed. ‘If I need to see him I’ll come in again.’

The woman smiled. ‘It would be a good idea to make an appointment.’

*

When Thea got home she made an uncharacteristic raid on the bedrooms for dirty mugs and glasses. She rescued the corkscrew from Petal’s bedroom yet again and decided to buy her one of her own. Then she remembered she had no money, and no prospective art gallery, just because she had been paid cash in hand at the photographers.

She thought about going back to them and asking them to write a letter, stating what she’d earned and implying she still earned it, so she could go to another building society, but decided against it. She had told them she wouldn’t be coming back, but only after she’d got back from Ireland, when she’d already missed rather a lot of her scheduled days.