We crept back into the house in the early hours, hoping not to wake Maria, and Lorcan left me at the door to my room. As much as I wanted to be close to him, he’d been right when we’d lain on the sofa earlier. Both of us exhausted and spent, cuddled close together. He’d cupped my face in one large hand and told me we ought to get back so I could rest properly. I’d protested but now, having said goodnight, I knew he was right. I cleaned my teeth, stripped off, climbed into bed and was asleep within seconds of my head touching the soft Irish linen of the pillow.

* * *

‘So it went well, then?’ Maria asked as we sat at the table the next morning, watching as she dished up yet another hearty breakfast. Her family clearly had good metabolisms. I was less hesitant to wolf my own portion down. Yesterday had been exhausting, emotionally and mentally, but thankfully had turned out well – and I hadn’t expected to have to find more energy in the early hours closed away in the snug of the castle with Lorcan. My body definitely needed replenishing – not to mention more of Lorcan O’Malley. He sat beside me, his hand slipping to mine beneath the table as we all shuffled in to make room for each other. The whole family had descended this morning, ready for the gossip, it would seem.

‘She looked so beautiful, though,’ Roísín, Lorcan’s eldest sister, was saying. ‘That dress was just stunning.’

‘I’ll pass on the compliment to the designer. Thanks.’ I smiled, my body and mind properly relaxed for the first time in what felt like years.

‘And Patrick looked like the cat that had got the cream, bless his heart,’ Grace, the next sister down, added.

‘He’s just married a hot heiress. Of course he did!’ Cillian said, laughing as he grabbed a piece of thick, hot buttered toast from the large plate in the centre of the table.

‘That’s not why he married her,’ Lorcan reminded him.

‘Nah, I know. Bonus though.’

Lorcan looked at me, rolled his eyes and grinned before tucking into another thick rasher of bacon.

‘Even you looked relaxed and happy,’ Roísín said, pointing her toast at her brother. ‘About time you let go of that rigid belief about weddings and marriage being a bad idea at last.’

‘Just because I enjoyed seeing my friend happy doesn’t change my opinion on any of it. Look at all the drama it caused yesterday morning. That could all have been avoided if they weren’t actually getting married. That Vance bloke wouldn’t have even been in the picture to start with.’

‘That’s a bad example.’