‘How about a meal then an all-night game of poker? Bottle of whisky and blackjack, like we used to do. Remember, Neil? Mary used to beat all of us, didn’t she? Brilliant liar, my big sister. Isn’t she, Luke? You know her best; all her secrets. Maybe she didn’t lie to you but I wouldn’t bet on it, I wouldn’t bet a single penny. Most women are liars – except Juliet couldn’t bluff anyone. Still can’t, come to think of it; she’s the most honest woman I ever met. That’s why it took her so long to get hitched. You on, Luke? You owe me about twenty quid from the last game.’

‘I’ll see,’ said Luke cautiously.

‘Boring. Just say yes.’

‘What does Irene want to do?’

‘Irene, what do you want to do?’

‘I’m easy,’ she said.

‘Easy? Oh no, I don’t think so.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ said Lorrie.

‘Irene knows. Don’t you, Irene? Anyway, that’s decided. Dinner and gambling. We’ll see the sunrise together.’

She sat beside him at the front of the boat, their legs hanging over the edge. She was conscious of Neil and Katherine a few feet behind them, doing a puzzle together, of Mickey out of sight on the deck above.

‘Tell me about clouds,’ she said.

‘Clouds.’ He took her hand and held it in his lap. She shifted so they were touching. ‘What do you want to know then?’

‘Just tell me something. Anything. What’s that one?’

‘Cumulus,’ he said, smiling.

‘I suppose I knew that.’

‘You probably did.’ Their bare feet pressed together. ‘People used to think they were all different, that there was no way of categorizing them. They were God’s mystery.’

‘How many kinds are there then?’

‘Just the three – cumulus, cirrus and stratus. Though of course there are subsets.’

‘Ah,’ she said vaguely. ‘Go on.’

‘Let’s see. I belong to the Cloud Research Group.’

He stroked her wrist with a calloused thumb and she shifted her body ever so slightly so that their legs touched.

‘Do you?’

‘Mmm. That’s why I’m taking a sabbatical in America next month. We’re attempting to find out what the effects of global warming are on clouds.’

‘Are there effects?’

‘It’s hard to measure though NASA does have a fancy new device. But it looks likely that clouds will become lower, thicker – that’s important, because perhaps they will reflect the sunlight back into the atmosphere and counteract the effect of warming.’

‘Like the earth protecting itself.’

‘Sort of – on the other hand, they might also trap the heat, like a blanket.’

‘Scary.’

‘Yes. Your freckles have all merged together, you know.’

‘I know. How did you get that scar?’

‘I cycled into a branch.’

‘So many things I don’t know.’

‘Ask me.’

‘What food don’t you like?’

‘Avocados. Tomato ketchup.’