‘Untie her then,’ said Luke. ‘And we’re off. Neil, can you unloose her from the bows. Thanks.’

Irene sat quite still. Very slowly, the boat moved away from the towpath where it was moored. Through the top of the window, she could see trees, a red-tiled roof, a plump white cloud slowly gliding past. She remembered saying goodbye to Juliet yesterday. They’d gripped each other’s hands and when she’d opened her mouth to speak, Juliet had shushed her.

‘Don’t,’ she’d said. ‘There’s nothing to say. It’s been wonderful.’

‘It has,’ said Irene. ‘You’ve been wonderful.’

‘Rubbish. Listen, I’m going to be fine. Do you hear me?’

‘I know. Of course you are.’

‘And so are you.’

‘Of course.’

They’d gazed at each other, blinking away tears and smiling. Then Jem had taken Juliet’s arm and led her to the car and the guests had been left alone, feeling suddenly adrift in the house.

‘Watch out, you bloody moron!’ came Mickey’s voice.

Irene sighed and stood up reluctantly.

She came up on deck, squinting at the flat blue of the sky and the bolts of light that flashed off the canal, making her eyes sting. There was absolutely no wind; the trees on either side were motionless, their leaves dark and limp. The water shone like great slabs of glass in front of them, although behind them, the wake of the boat chopped up the reflected sky. Ahead, a low-arched bridge was perfectly mirrored: it looked as though they would be passing through an unbroken circle of brick. Luke raised his hand in greeting to Irene. He was sitting in his shorts and dark glasses at the boat’s steering wheel, turning it fractionally to the right and left, frowning in concentration. The tip of his tongue was on his upper lip. A pair of binoculars hung round his neck and he had a notebook beside him. The canal was narrower now they’d left the village mooring and the boat nosed along, almost near enough to the towpath to jump ashore.

‘Beer,’ called Mickey, who was sitting on a chair near Luke, looking at the map. His bright turquoise shirt was unbuttoned and he wore a blue cap jauntily askew.

‘Maybe coffee first,’ said Irene, feeling shy and strange among them.

‘Good idea. Make some for me too, will you?’ asked Luke.

‘And us,’ called Neil from the boat’s interior. ‘We’re coming up soon. Lorrie’s just covering every spare inch of Katherine’s skin in sun cream.’

‘I’ll make a big pot.’

‘Then you can have a go. It’s easy once you get the hang of it, but you have to make constant adjustments.’