Patrick’s face suggested he most definitely didn’t want to. ‘No, no, I don’t,’ Peyton said, still clinging to Patrick’s hand but beginning to regain some of her normal poise. ‘I thought he was a friend, but I don’t really think he is. I don’t think he loves me either. All he’s interested in, ever has been interested in, is what my family’s name and money can do for him.’

‘Do you want to tell him that his services are no longer required, or would you prefer me to?’ I asked.

Pick me! Pick me!

Peyton looked at Patrick, then me. ‘I’m happy to do it,’ Patrick interjected.

‘We need to start getting you into a fit state to be seen to marry this woman, mate,’ Lorcan said. ‘That could take a while so I’m not sure you’ll have time.’ He’d been standing behind the two of them, leaning back on the work surface, quietly taking it all in. When Patrick made the suggestion, he gave the smallest headshake to me and I sent him a look of agreement. Probably best not to have the man whose fiancée you just tried to steal deliver the news. There was every chance, something Lorcan’s mini gesture had confirmed, that Patrick might well deliver something else. Especially to someone as smug and underhand as Vance Benson.

‘Very funny,’ Patrick replied, glancing over his shoulder at his old friend.

‘I’m happy to do it,’ I said. Ecstatic, to be truthful.

‘Right!’ Maria said, brushing her hands on her apron. ‘Now that’s sorted, everyone sit down for breakfast.’ She began dishing out the plates, full to the brim with sizzling bacon, eggs, fried bread, beans, fried tomatoes, fresh local sausages and a pile of mushrooms.

I glanced up at the clock. It was only just coming up to seven and it already felt as if it had been a long day.

‘I can’t possibly eat all this!’ Peyton was now sitting and staring at the plate.

‘Just eat what you can, then, lovey,’ Maria encouraged her.

‘But I never eat this sort of thing.’ She was still staring at the food.

‘If I’m honest, Peyton, neither do I, but I can guarantee you don’t want to miss out on this. You’ve already had a tiring morning and it’s only seven o’clock. You’re going to need a lot of energy today. This is the best fuel.’

Maria looked over the heads of the others and gave me a wink and I knew then where Lorcan got it from.

‘But my dress…’

‘One meal isn’t going to make a difference, sweetheart,’ Patrick said, already tucking in. ‘Come on, you need some energy for all that dancing we’re going to be doing later.’