‘Lily Atwell, you had your turn. Now it’s mine.’ The gruff resolute tone of his voice seemed only to bring a sparkle of something even more wood-nymph-like to his mind. Something almost teasing and he had to look away, or he’d lose all train of thought and gather her into his arms to kiss her. And never stop.

‘I should never have left without telling you where I was going, or speaking to you first. Only, I hadn’t meant to be away so long. I’m sorry if even for one minute I made you think that I had left you.’ He turned back, realizing only a little too late that he’d given this startling monologue to the sea rather than her. He searched her eyes, and said again, ‘I’m sorry. Truly and deeply.’

She inhaled and sighed deep. ‘OK.’

He followed her breathing as if it were his own. Then ran a hand through his hair, half tempted to pull on it, but trying not to lose all semblance of control.

‘The night we spent together, I need you to know. It was everything to me. It was the most incredible night of my life, and I …’ He broke off as a blush rose to her cheeks and he almost couldn’t continue. ‘But that night, you said that I was the only person who could forgive myself. You weren’t wrong,’ he said, reaching for her hand and hoping that she wouldn’t pull away, ‘but you weren’t quite right either.’

At her raised eyebrow, he couldn’t help but smile, the indignation quite clear to see. ‘It does happen you know,’ he gently teased.

‘Rarely. Carry on,’ she replied as regal as any queen. And just the small echo of a smile gave him the courage to press ahead.

‘I realized that to properly put the past to rest, I needed to see Claudia’s parents.’

The lips that had quirked ever so slightly in a smile, formed an ‘o’ as a puff of air fell from her lungs. Eyes wide, glittering and searching, scanned his own, running over his body as if to check for signs of hurt or pain.

‘And I’m sorry that it became more important to me than to let you know where I was going. That was unforgivable.’

‘Oh, Henry,’ she said, and he held up his hand to stop her. He needed to get this out. To explain.

‘They live up near Northumberland now. Did you know that?’

She shook her head, biting her lip a little as if wanting to speak but not to interrupt.