Ned nodded. He had never lived in a city, but any visits even as far as Dublin had felt a little bit like this. He felt completely out of place with all these polished people who seemed completely unafraid of saying whatever came into their heads.

‘So, I came back, for a little while at least. I took some time off, a leave of absence until the end of the summer. I’m not sure if there’s a place for me here, but I’m pretty sure it’s where I want to be just now.’

‘This is your home. And for as long as it remains our house,’ said Ned, ‘there will be a place for you. But now, let’s get these puddings on the griddle. Our guest has a wicked appetite for black pudding.’

‘Guest? What guest?’ Elle had not had time to become acquainted with Colin before she left for London. She had been vaguely aware of a tall, lanky, stranger with the others that day when she had returned from her failed expedition in town, but she had been too upset to wonder who he was or what he was doing there.

A guest? How on earth had that happened when Penny had supposedly cancelled all bookings? And especially given the hotel was up for sale.

‘Yes,’ said Ned. ‘English Colin. He’s made himself quite a fixture around the place over the last couple of weeks. I hate to think how much harder things would have been for Penny if he hadn’t shown up when he did. He’s been a real distraction for her.’

‘Really . . .’ said Elle, raising her eyebrows, but nothing more was said on the subject as the man himself appeared. Elle found his appearance amusing, to say the least. He was wearing a pair of blue and white striped pyjamas, with a pair of open-toed slippers on his feet, and to top it off, a paisley dressing-gown loosely tied about his thin waist. Elle thought he had the air of an escaped mental patient, but a friendly one all the same. He shook her hand enthusiastically.

‘The prodigal sister returns,’ he exclaimed. ‘So pleased to meet you properly at last. Don’t mind me, I prefer to be rather casual over breakfast, but I will be sure to don proper attire for the rest of the day.’

Penny entered the kitchen then and completed the group.

Elle was a bit taken aback at how raucous breakfast was that morning. So different from the solemn gatherings of just a couple of weeks before. Penny was practically glowing in Colin’s company and they were both laughing and teasing each other. Which was interesting . . .

Still it was all a bit unnerving – as if the hotel wasn’t about to be sold out from underneath their feet. Had they completely forgotten what dire straits they were in? Apparently so.