Six local members of the Friends of Glendrochatt were joining them for the day, lured by the excellent guides Giles always managed to lay on to lecture at each of the venues, since one of the perks of membership of the Friends was the opportunity to partake in events organised by the arts centre. Amy had decided to come along too, go round the National Gallery with them, and then peel off at lunchtime to meet a friend, before catching her train back to London. Isobel was going to put Edward on his bus in Perth before taking Rory and Sheena to the airport. She was dreading her day.

It was after six o’clock when the minibus got back to Glendrochatt after a highly successful day. Fired by Giles’s knowledge and enthusiasm, Marnie, the Colonel and Morwenna professed themselves in love with Edinburgh and both Christopher and Louisa said they had learned more about the city in one day with Giles than on various longer visits over the years.

The only trouble in an otherwise smooth-running day had been the slight but perceptible undercurrent of tension between Louisa and Marnie. As Giles put it, after he and Isobel had escaped to the privacy of the old nursery and he’d brought her a glass of wine and given himself a glass of whisky, Louisa had been ‘as nice as nuts’ all day to Christopher, the Colonel and Morwenna, but distant and frosty with Marnie, who in turn had looked first agonised and then huffy.

‘They nearly succeeded in spoiling the atmosphere. I wanted to shake them both,’ he complained, ‘but thank God they thawed a bit as the day went on.’

‘Oh dear, I wish Louisa wasn’t making it so plain that she minds that Christopher and Marnie are so obviously falling for each other.’ Isobel looked distressed. ‘It isn’t as if Marnie had pinched him from her. I don’t quite know what to do. I don’t think Louisa’s at all happy at the moment. The trouble is that I don’t think she knows what she wants herself. I’ve never seen her like this. Under all the froth I feel she’s at a crisis point.’

Giles shook his head at her. ‘You can’t always sort everybody’s lives out for them, darling,’ he said. ‘Much more important, tell me how it all went for you. Did Ed go off on the bus without a drama, and how was the parting with Rory? You look whacked.’