When they got back to the hotel, Takis declared that the only way to see Kyri was by boat. An hour later he was waiting for them at the harbour jetty in a dark blue boat, with a small cabin and lots of deck space to lie out on and admire the scenery.

‘Is it your own boat?’ Penny asked as she climbed aboard.

‘It belongs to my friend, though here most people have a boat,’ Takis grinned. ‘People still live by farming and fishing. We don’t have much tourism. That’s why all the young people are leaving. There’s no jobs they want here, so they all go to Santorini. There is an airport there, you see.’

‘And do you want more tourism?’ Despite herself, Dora was becoming interested.

‘Of course! Tourism is what keeps the Greek economy going,’ he shrugged. ‘Or almost going. The other islands have much more than we do. And yet we have ninety beaches!’

Nell stared out across the deep blue of the Aegean Sea. She could feel the sun warming her pale English skin and a delightful feeling of well-being began to spread through her. She glanced across at Penny, hoping she too was sharing it.

She worried about Penny. It was clear her husband was a deeply unpleasant man, and yet for some reason she put up with him. Of course, there was an old-fashioned argument that said any husband was better than no husband, as long as they didn’t beat you. That’s what her mother’s generation would have said. In fact, that was what her mother had said when she and Robert split. Not that she’d had much choice in the matter. As soon as he’d discovered she was being unfaithful, he’d left at once.

For the five hundredth time, Nell thought about why she’d had an affair all those years ago. In some corny sense it was like that Abba song where the wife thought she was a ‘concealed attraction’ being kept from the excitement by a dull husband. Robert had been such a predictable man, a man of habit; and Francis, a drugs rep of all things, had been charming and full of fun. Looking back, she was amazed she hadn’t recognized that these were qualities that probably went with the job, but at the time she’d been bowled over by him. And it had been enjoyable. And exciting. But like the wife in the song, she’d certainly paid the price.

‘Are you OK, Nell?’ Penny broke into her thoughts. ‘Only you looked a bit sad, somehow. I was hoping you weren’t regretting not just going home?’ Penny fixed her anxious gaze on Nell.

Nell burst out laughing. ‘Actually, Penny –’ she leaned back on the boat’s cabin, where they were all sitting while Takis steered, and stretched luxuriously – ‘I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.’

‘Really?’