‘Amy,’ he says, setting the cafetière back down, ‘I wanted us all to get together. That’s why I suggested we all go on holiday in the first place. It’s kind of now or never for our family. And it’s a minor miracle: everyone is in one house, and some of us are speaking to each other. We’re all here for you. Even Dad, no matter what you think. We’ll do whatever you want us to.’

She nods and feels tears fill her eyes. What does she want? Ruby-May. Ruby-May, alive and well. Nothing else. She can see why someone could be tempted to make a pact with the devil – why you would sell your soul, if that is what it would take to bring your child back to life.

‘Ah, my timing is perfect, no?’ says Luca, stepping into the kitchen. ‘I smell the coffee from over the swimming pool.’ He pats Nick on the shoulder and crosses to the sofa, where Lotte and Theo are curled up together. ‘Look!’ He opens a slim black box.

Nick watches curiously as he measures out the ground coffee. She knows what’s inside already. Luca carries it everywhere with him. It’s a travelling chess set. She imagines when he’s struggling with a thorny problem in his dissertation, he takes it out: the tiny pieces, the rigid rules, the endless combinations of moves and the infinite possibilities must ease him and jolt the other problem into his subconscious, so that he can crack it later.

Nick goes to a set of tall shelves at the back of the room filled with tatty paperbacks. The bottom of the bookcase is stacked with games. He pulls out a full-size chess set and hands it to Luca.

‘Ah, your clever uncle,’ he says, pocketing the minuscule set. ‘Much better for the small fingers and the clumsy big ones,’ Luca murmurs, as he starts to lay out the pieces.

20

NICK