‘But Himself said – that’s your great writer man, Dermot Flynn – he said he wouldn’t go to a festival he had to travel five miles to, and so they have it here. It’s grand for business. Now, have you had tea – I mean proper tea, not just a cup of tea in your hand?’

‘Yes, we had an all-day breakfast at the café.’

‘He would have given you a grand big Full Irish, didn’t he?’

‘He did, only we saw a girl.’

‘Oh yes. She’s my niece. A lovely girl.’

Accompanied by constant, amiable chat, the girls were escorted to their room. It was, Monica declared, a picture.

‘I’ve never seen anything so fantastically kitsch in my life! It’s a fairy palace!’ she said once their landlady was safely out of earshot.

‘And all in mauve,’ agreed Laura, slightly less enthralled. ‘I don’t think there’s anything that could take another purple frill if its life depended on it.’

Monica bounced on one of the single beds. ‘Comfy. What’s the bathroom like?’

‘Mauve,’ said Laura, peering into a little room adjacent to theirs. ‘Even the loo paper is mauve. But it seems to have everything, including a bath.’

Her yearning for one must have been audible because Monica said, ‘Why don’t you sink into it while I sort the car out? Then we can either go out or just stay in and watch television.’

By the time Monica came back the television was watching itself with Laura lying on top of one of the twin beds in a mauve towelling robe, fast asleep.

‘There’s nothing like an early night for making you feel like exercise!’ said Monica, sounding uncharacteristically Brown Owl-ish.

Laura sipped the tea Monica had brought to her bed. ‘So you didn’t wake up at one in the morning then?’

‘Nope. And the sun is shining, and as the days are so short, we should get out there and enjoy it!’

‘Did you manage to get your car sorted?’

‘Yup! A sweet man is going to sort it out today. It won’t be ready until tomorrow but I’ve had a brilliant idea how to spend our time.’

Laura hadn’t known Monica particularly long but she saw Ulterior Motive written all over her. ‘How?’

‘While I was finding the garage I passed a bike-hire place. They don’t get much custom in the winter so they’ve let me have two at a bargain rate.’

‘Bicycles.’

‘Yes!’

‘Did you notice that we came down a long hill to the village? Wherever we went would involve a long hill up.’

‘It’s good exercise.’

Laura hid her smile behind another sip of tea. She’d find out what the ulterior motive was soon enough. ‘OK then.’ Knowing Monica as she felt she now did, Laura suspected it was a man.