Liz tried to draw her out about the illustrations she was working on, but Kate brushed her questions aside. All she wanted to talk about was Holland House and Whisper Fen.

As soon as they had finished, Kate jumped up. ‘Liz, could you come and give me some of your thoughts on wallpaper for the dining room? I’ve got heaps of pattern books but it’s not easy to find one that fits this house.’

Matt took advantage of their absence to tell Will about their meeting with Emilia Swain. ‘We are calling in after we leave here to fix the lock on her shed. While I’m busy with that, Liz is going to try to find out what else is worrying her.’ He lowered his voice. ‘We are well in with her, I think. I reckon she’s relieved to have someone to talk to. Why don’t you ring me later, and I’ll update you?’

Will said he would.

‘Kate really loves this house, doesn’t she?’ Matt said.

Will nodded unenthusiastically.

‘Is she okay, Will? Only she’s lost a lot of weight since we saw her last.’

‘She’s overdoing it, mate.’ Will kept his voice low. ‘She’s working all hours and sometimes well into the night. She’s desperate to finish this book for her publisher, she’s working on new paintings of her own, and then there’s the house, which seems to be becoming something of an obsession.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘I want it to look good too, of course, but Liz is dead set on it being exactly as it was when Mrs Holland first married. She’s sourced wallpaper designs from the thirties, researched paint colours and had them specially mixed, she’s even tracked down some authentic fabric for drapes. Hell, Matt, by the time she’s finished I’ll be living in a museum.’

Matt recalled Liz telling him his home was a museum, then had made it into the lovely place it was now. It seemed that Kate wanted to do the exact opposite. ‘Don’t you have any say in it, Will? After all, it’s your home too.’

Will laughed. ‘Sometimes I wonder. Oh, I don’t mean that, it’s just that she’s become so fixated on her idea of Holland House that I don’t really feature. She thinks that because I love the property, I’ll love what she does with it. End of.’ He sighed. ‘And she wanders off all over the marsh and the sea bank. She says she’s looking for inspiration for her work. Sometimes she’s gone for hours.’

‘And she’s worrying you sick.’

Before Will could answer, they heard Kate and Liz coming back. Will went off to make coffee.