‘You told them. You spread this about when I specifically said, no gossip. I cannot believe this. I trusted you, Grim.’

Deep breath. ‘You can still trust me,’ I say. ‘I didn’t say anything beyond what I just told you. And those folk don’t gossip. Nobody said a word about you or your daughter or anything you might or might not be building.’

‘That’s all very well,’ says Tóla. ‘But what about him? The wild man? You get a crew up here and he’ll be spinning his tales to every last one of them, telling them all manner of lies. I can’t believe those wild stories won’t get out somehow. He would poison folk’s minds against me. I can’t keep him tied up and locked in day and night. He has to be able to direct the building.’

That’s where Gormán sort of clears his throat. Giving me the chance to get in first. ‘Thing is,’ I say, ‘Gormán and I had a little chat about that last night. We’ve moved Bardán out of that cellar and into the main bit of the barn –’

Tóla opens his mouth to let out something angry, but I put a hand up.

‘Let me finish, will you? I know you don’t want him out and about. But he has to be out to help me build. And if I lose the job, you’ll still need him to help whoever takes over. If it’s going to be me doing it, it’ll be me keeping an eye on Bardán. Wasn’t that always part of our agreement? So it still will be, but it’ll be on my terms, or I’m off right now and not coming to Wolf Glen ever again. I’ll be giving back your silver and going my own way.’ Hoping Tóla hasn’t guessed I won’t leave Bardán on his own unless there’s no other choice at all. Don’t want another burden to carry. Leaving him would be a heavy one.

‘You’re not the man I thought you were,’ says Tóla. Can’t for the life of me tell if he thinks this is a good thing or a bad thing. Could be some of both.