‘Just shut up and walk,’ he commanded, as I stumbled across the woven rug on the old slate floor.

‘But I can’t see properly, it’s so dark,’ I mumbled, scared now – really wholeheartedly terrified. His response was to push me forwards so I tripped again and went hurtling into the wall, banging my forehead on the corner of a picture-frame that swung wildly before me.

‘Ow.’ I clutched my head as I was propelled into the sitting room, still dark except for the fire now dying in the grate.

‘Light the candles,’ he ordered, gesturing to the old brass sticks on the mantelpiece. He pulled back the curtains to let in the moonlight and turned, his teeth bared in a triumphant kind of grin. ‘It’s dark because I cut the electric, babe. Clever, aren’t I?’

And it was now I realised the severity of the situation; that he really wasn’t messing around.

I took a deep breath and crossed the room, picking up the squashed box of cook’s matches. The first three all fizzled out as I tried desperately to steady my hand, to hide this palpable fear. The only thing I knew with any clarity was that I must stay calm. I had to stay calm or he would win.

‘What’s wrong, Seb?’ I asked quietly as the first wick finally took, glancing back at him. ‘Why are you so very upset?’

‘You said you didn’t want to see me,’ Sebastian muttered, and his twisted grin died then, the grin I’d thought was charming. His voice was very strained, and his face was very pale in the moonlight that tumbled through the window now, two spots of high colour on his cheeks. ‘No one says that to me. Not when I – I love them.’ He clenched his fists. ‘I said I loved you, Maggie. That should have been enough.’

A small figure of Sebastian, an image from an edit all sped up, flitted through my head. What did this remind me of?

‘Enough?’ I repeated slowly, wracking my brain.

‘I would have stopped then.’

‘Stopped what?’ I asked, shaking my head in confusion. I had to handle him right …

‘I just needed some time,’ I implored, risking a tiny step towards him. ‘It wasn’t an insult to you, honestly. It’s just about where I am at the moment. A bit all over the place, you know. I didn’t want to mess it up. That’s all. Please, Seb …’ I reached out a hand to him.

‘Shut up,’ Seb snapped, and my thudding heart plummeted. ‘Just shut up and let me think.’ He turned his back on me and leaned his forehead against the window, staring blindly out into the dark garden.

‘I –’ I forced myself to say it, ‘I love you too.’

‘Not enough,’ he intoned. ‘It’s never enough. I thought – after a while, I thought you were going to be different.’

‘Different?’