‘Hi, Niall,’ Catriona says, her voice thick. She is wearing a grey waffle robe and her hair is swept back under a wide band of cloth. ‘I’m not feeling well today.’ She hugs herself in the draught of the doorway and turns back towards the stairs.

‘Heavy night at the ceilidh?’ he mutters.

‘What’s that? I’m all stuffed up.’

‘I was just wondering,’ he says, ‘are you wanting a cup of tea or something?’

‘No, no, thanks, I’m fine.’

‘If you don’t mind me saying, you’re awful peely-wally,’ he says gently. He hopes this will sound charming, caring. She looks in need of something hot, the peppermint she likes. ‘Are you sure?’

She pinches the bridge of her nose and nods. Her eyes are swollen and her lips cracked, but she’s still beautiful. He remembers the way she was watching the band and that maybe she doesn’t think so badly of him after all. He hopes he didn’t look too strange, stumbling off stage.

As she creaks up the stairs, Niall is left on his own in the kitchen. He stands for a moment among the clean white walls and polished chrome. The guilt from his last visit is making his stomach ache. He needs to explain somehow. He’s been thinking it over. He carefully fills the enamel kettle with water and finds the right cupboard for the mugs, which he sets down as quietly as he can on the shining counter.

Carrying one mug, he calls her name from the hallway. The walls are still bare and new. He wonders what she might hang on them, old photographs or maps he thinks, rather than paintings. Spending time decorating people’s houses has given him some idea of these things. Sunlight shines through a stained-glass door panel. It is an unusual piece of glasswork that apparently dates back to 1905, when the farmhouse was built.

The second time he calls Catriona’s name, he hears nothing, so he takes the stairs, slowly, listening. The landing is sunnier than the hallway. He stops at the five doors in front of him and listens again. There is a low murmur behind one and he knocks and opens a bedroom door gently. The sun is dimly shining through a yellow curtain.