“Just one night it is then?”

“Yes,” Paige said.

“It’s refreshing to have guests here on a Tuesday, especially during the off-season. Both of my rooms are booked for tonight in fact. Are you here for the Halloween Ball over in Durham?”

“There’s a Ball?” Jon asked.

At this same instant Paige uttered, “No.”

“Oh, that’s too bad,” said Imogene. “The other couple that’s here said they’re not going either. You really should reconsider. It’s a good deal of fun. I’m going there myself after supper tonight. You did know that here we offer both dinner and breakfast to all guests?”

“Yes, that’s excellent, thank you,” said Paige.

“Can I ask if that scent from the kitchen is tonight’s dinner?” Jon said.

“It is—Irish stew and homemade bread.”

“Good Celtic fare. That’s fitting.”

Imogene looked confused.

Jon felt himself blushing. “Halloween…it was a Celtic festival…way back, I mean.”

“A fountain of information, this one,” she said, winking at Paige.

They signed the registration forms and were shown to their room, which was slight but stylish.

“The tub is really something,” Paige said as she emerged from the washroom, “I could practically swim in it.” She found Jon standing between the bed and the nightstand. He had a finger pressed to his mouth. Warbled voices, one deep and the other bright, were audible from the adjoining room.

“Just as I’d feared,” grumbled Jon as he maneuvered out of the awkward space. “These walls are like tissue paper. We’ll not have any privacy at all. I can practically hear them breathing next door.”

“Well there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“I suppose. Why don’t we go for a walk before dinner?”

“I’d rather not.”

The woman beyond the wall laughed shrilly.

Jon sighed. “What would you like to do?”

“I think I’m going to soak in that tub for a while.”

He was hoping for some indication that Paige wanted company. When none came, he proceeded to unpack and then went to appreciate the view, such as it was, from the upper storey window. The landscape that surrounded them looked as dull as the piled clouds. Their room was facing the lane, yet even from this higher vantage the main road remained obscured by bends in the lane and by the unkempt verge.

“Pretty?”

Paige’s voice startled him. He spun around and asked, “How was your bath?”

“Lovely, but now I’m famished. I’ll get dressed and we can go downstairs.”

Soon after, they were about to venture down when Paige decided to change shoes. While Jon was waiting in the hallway, the other couple emerged from their room. Jon experienced a pang of social anxiety. The three of them nodded and offered vague greetings.

The other man then said, “Hello, Paige.”

Jon snapped his head back to the doorway of his room.

“Teddy.”