Their conversation came to a gentle end. Christopher made them both a coffee and left Maria to drink hers as she worked in the kitchen, while he took his upstairs to his study. He sat down at his desk and looked out over the garden and the long, narrow grass path that he had cut in a line from his study window to the old yew tree at the far end. There was a white-painted seat beneath the ancient tree with its low-sweeping branches, and it occurred to him that it had been over a year since he had sat there with anybody. It also occurred to him that a few minutes ago, for the first time since he could remember, he had used the word ‘we’.

On Thursday night the men from the Ordnance Survey decided that they would go out under their own steam. Tiger and Sam had dined with them in the hotel every other evening, and the conversation had not exactly flowed, so he was not sorry when they said that on their last night they’d go off on their own.

‘Do you want to eat in your room?’ he asked Sam.

She looked marginally crestfallen at the thought and so he asked, ‘Or shall we go and find somewhere together?’

At this she brightened. ‘There’s a seafood restaurant down by the harbour. Lobster and crab, that sort of thing,’ she suggested.

No matter how long a man has been married, and however loyal he is to his wife, there are moments when he finds himself on his own in the company of an attractive woman, when he can forget for a while that he is spoken for. No harm comes of it, in most cases, and it is extremely good for morale. It shows him that he can still be good company, still court an admiring glance from someone who is not bound by loyalty or family ties.

Tiger looked at Sam sitting across the table from him and saw how the candlelight played in her eyes. Saw the coppery tints of her hair, the delicate curve of her chin and the warm smile, and for a while at least he remembered what it was like to be young and in love. Not that he was in love with her. But he did find her very attractive. She had the knack that some women do of listening as though you are the only person in the room. Of cutting out the rest of the world entirely. At least, that’s how it felt to Tiger. For one evening at least, he could be single again. And desirable. Not disloyal, but just happy in his own imaginings. Somewhere else. With someone else. Dreaming a little. Indulging his fantasies.

‘I do like it here,’ she said.

‘Yes. A good find.’ He came back from his reverie and topped up her wine glass.

‘So do you know what you’ll be doing next week?’ she asked.