Dermot looked at Laura. ‘To be frank with you, I only had one thought in my head, and that was to find Laura. I didn’t think about booking anywhere to stay.’

‘There are no hotels in town,’ said Mr Horsley.

‘It’s too late to book in at a bed and breakfast,’ said Mrs Horsley. ‘Although I suppose I could ask Sheila if she’s got vacancies, but I don’t really like—’

‘Couldn’t he stay here?’ asked Laura, fighting to keep the edge of hysteria out of her voice.

‘No. The spare room is full of your stuff, Laura,’ said her mother reprovingly, the silent subtext being: if you’d wanted your friend to stay you should have done something about it.

Her father said, ‘We took it all out of the loft when we had the extra insulation put in.’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! He can have my bed!’ said Laura. ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa.’

‘No,’ said Dermot firmly, ‘I’ll sleep on the sofa.’

Laura’s parents exchanged worried glances. What had happened to their safe, familiar Sunday evening? Their daughter, who’d never been much trouble, even if she had been difficult about her studies, had inflicted this wild Irishman on them. What was the best way to react?

‘Is there really nowhere he could stay in town?’ Mrs Horsley asked her husband.

‘No, dear.’

‘Mum! It’ll be all right.’ Laura tried to be patient. She did understand her parents’ anxieties. ‘Really it will. It’s only for one night.’

‘I’ll be quite happy on the sofa,’ said Dermot. ‘I’ve slept on plenty of them in my time.’

‘No, you must have Laura’s bed. We can’t put a guest on the sofa. I’ll go and find some clean sheets.’

‘Really, Mrs Horsley.’ Dermot was firm. ‘There’s no need to change the sheets just for one night. It’s not worth all that washing.’

‘I’ve only slept in them two nights,’ Laura pointed out. ‘They’ll be fine for him.’

‘Really—’ her mother protested.

‘Really,’ Dermot repeated. ‘They’ll be fine.’

‘Shall I make some more tea?’ said Laura, feeling the argument about where Dermot should sleep and the sheets could go on all night if some kind of full stop wasn’t put to it. Tea was the ultimate full stop, she felt.

‘And maybe you would like some sandwiches?’ asked her mother, making Laura send a wave of gratitude towards her. She wouldn’t feel so grateful to Dermot if he accepted them, however. She didn’t know why he’d really come to find her and she just wanted the evening to end. Perhaps everything would seem clearer in the morning.

‘No thank you, Mrs Horsley, I ate some fish and chips somewhere along my route. Can’t remember where.’

‘If you want good fish and chips you have to go up north,’ said her father, whose own family came from Lancashire.