Dinner at the castle had been a subdued affair. The chest-beating bravado that would have otherwise greeted dishes of kill-your-own-pheasant was absent due to the Guy-Camille fiasco; such visceral celebrations seemed in poor taste. Guy was drunk by the time Ameerah and Nory got back from lunch and seemed determined to remain that way. Pippa had rearranged the table to close the gaps made by missing friends, but the absences were apparent. Nobody quite knew what to say to Guy. What do you say to an old friend whose wife has just very publicly left him? Even if he did have it coming?

The group talked about the wedding, a little about politics—which they quickly had to abandon—and their various jobs. Dev got into a discussion about global warming with Charles, suggesting that someone with as much sway in the financial world as Charles was perfectly positioned to encourage investors to clean up their acts in terms of their carbon footprints. Guy butted in drunkenly to accuse Dev of having a higher carbon footprint than any of them because his modeling work took him all over the world on gas-guzzling airplanes.

In the end, the party disbanded early, some to their rooms, others to the snug, and Charles and Guy to the billiards room, where they ordered a bottle of whiskey and settled in for the night.

Truth be told, Nory was pleased to have her evening suddenly free. She left it a respectable amount of time before changing into jeans and a jumper and disappearing off to Isaac’s cottage.

“Hello, I didn’t expect to see you this evening.” Isaac was smiling, looking at her with one eyebrow raised. He was dressed in the tartan fleece leisure trousers he’d worn to Snowball Croquet and a navy-blue sweatshirt. His hair was wet from the shower—slicked back—and Nory could still smell the fresh scent of soap on his skin.

She felt suddenly nervous. Was it such a good idea to just turn up? What if Isaac had someone with him? What if he didn’t have company because he wanted to be by himself, without weird booksellers rocking up unannounced at his door?

“Is this a bad time?”

“No! No, not at all, you just took me by surprise. Come in.”

He stepped aside, and Nory walked in past him and through the open door into the sitting room.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“Something hot, please, it’s freezing out there.”

“What about a glass of mulled wine? I had a hankering for some earlier, but it seemed excessive to make some up just for me.” He looked at her and smiled. “But now you’re here.”

“Mulled wine would be wonderful. If it’s not too much trouble.”

“None at all. Come out to the kitchen, we can talk while I concoct.”