‘I can’t get my head around it,’ she continued. ‘I mean, he says there’s work to be done, but we know that. With what we’ve talked about, I already know where I can make it better. He says he thinks he’ll have no problem placing it with a publishing house! You might be getting a mention in my acknowledgements sooner than we thought.’

‘That’s incredible, Jo. I’m delighted for you,’ Ewan said, but now there was a dullness to his voice which Jo struggled to understand. After all the pep talking he had done over the course of the previous two days, she thought he’d have been hitting the ceiling with excitement along with her. Maybe being so established brought with it a reserved response to good news. Or maybe he didn’t think securing an agent was that big a deal. After all, it wasn’t as if she had scored a major book deal or a TV series, or even actually any kind of book deal yet. Jo felt herself start to deflate, but Ewan must’ve seen the disappointment in her eyes. ‘God, Jo. I’m sorry. This is amazing news. Really incredible. I’m delighted for you. But I think, maybe, the lack of sleep and the overindulgence in alcohol is catching up with me. I’m not feeling the very best.’

Now that he mentioned it, she noticed he had gone very pale.

‘Can I get you anything?’ she asked. ‘A glass of water? A piece of toast, maybe? That might settle your stomach?’

He shook his head, his eyes closed for a moment. When he opened them again, he looked directly at her, and she longed for him to say it had passed and he felt better and to join her in the mother of all cooked breakfasts to bring them both round. ‘Actually, I think I need to go and lie down in my room. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do our session this morning.’

Disappointment nipped at her core, but she could see that he was ‘well shook’, as her mother would say, and that a lie-down and a couple of hours’ sleep would do him the power of good.

‘Do you want me to help you back to your room?’ she asked. ‘Or see if they have paracetamol at reception?’

‘No. Honestly, it’s okay. I’ll be okay. You sit here. Have your breakfast. I just need a lie-down, I think. But well done, really, well done. Graham is a brilliant agent. You’ll be in good hands.’