Izzy looked at her quizzically. ‘Saturday night? You are wild. You need to get out more. Alan was talking about going to another pub on Friday.’

‘Grand.’

‘You’re starting to sound like a proper Irish person,’ she teased.

‘I do love the accent. It’s so…’ She wasn’t going to say sexy, which was the first thing that came to mind. She’d been listening to Conor’s husky lilt too much. ‘It’s musical – if that isn’t too stereotypical.’

‘No, I think you’re right. Conor has a lovely intonation to his voice.’

Hannah felt the familiar blush rise again and she focused her attention on the golden yolk of the boiled egg in front of her.

‘He’s not bad to look at either,’ said Izzy, with a quick nudge. ‘What’s he look like first thing in the morning?’

‘What! How—’

‘Sharing a place with him.’

‘Oh, yes.’

Izzy looked at her more closely and her mouth dropped open in a little ‘o’ of understanding. She glanced around at the others who were all absorbed in their own conversations before lowering her voice. ‘You’re not…?’

Hannah couldn’t lie to save her life but at the same time she didn’t want to admit it. She made a tiny squeak and widened her eyes and she shook her head vigorously. ‘No. Of course not.’ What was between her and Conor was private and no one else needed to know.

Thankfully, Izzy nodded and murmured. ‘OK then.’

Hannah heaved an inwards sigh. She was going to have to come up with a good story for the weekend. Conor had invited her to take a trip back to Dublin with him since he had a business meeting with the family lawyer.

‘Are you coming?’

‘What?’ Hannah needed to focus otherwise she’d give herself away. Izzy was no fool.

‘The herb garden. You said you’d come with me.’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘I am so going to plant a herb garden when I get home, although I’m not sure how it will cope in the snow. I’ll have to ask Adrienne what she’d recommend. She’s so knowledgeable about the properties of all these herbs. Did you know basil can help with flatulence?’

‘Good to know. I’ll try to remember that.’

Having gathered several bundles of herbs which were now bucolically arranged in a wooden trug which Izzy carried with a touch of innocent self-importance, they headed to the kitchen for the day’s tuition. As always on Monday mornings, their aprons were freshly laundered, hanging on the hooks in the large lobby which served as their breakroom where tea and coffee were served in the mornings and the most delicious home-made cordials in the afternoon. Hannah had become rather partial to pomegranate and rhubarb with sparkling water even though before coming to Ireland she could safely say she’d never even tried pomegranate.