Elle vividly remembered what went onto the platters. The first layer had been a selection of savoury treats: prawn and cucumber sandwiches, feta and onion tarts, little crackers with grapes and blue cheese. All miniature sized, so you could pop them into your mouth without spoiling your lipstick. Then a layer of scones, with cream and jam, little chocolate cheesecake morsels, a tiny aromatic slice of currant brack.

On the top, finely iced fairy cakes, in the kind of pastel hues little girls adored. Every once in a while, Anna had allowed her and Penny to dress up, put on pearls and one of her hats, and sit in the tea room like those ladies. She would wait on them and pretend they were very important guests.

The tea room itself was still delicately beautiful, though a little dated here and there. It wouldn’t take much work to turn it into the enchanted bower that Elle remembered from the old days. But it wasn’t the tea room that was to be the centrepiece of her plan.

The dining room, too, was still a beautiful old space. It couldn’t quite fade into shabbiness, having the eternal beauty of that sea view. This room, the setting of so many celebrations, would still have a part to play, but it still wasn’t the main attraction. Though with a little bit of work here and there it would do quite nicely.

Then the ballroom.

Such a gorgeous room, but probably the least well kept at this stage. When times got harder, Anna and Ned had put what little money there was into the upkeep of the rooms that were most essential day to day: the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen and dining room.

The ballroom truly was the jewel in the hotel’s crown, but sadly used less and less over the years. As a result, it looked like a bit of a state and had become a dumping ground for unwanted furniture, and supplies. The wooden floor was scarred, the wallpaper marked and ripped. That would be a challenge.

Unbidden Elle had a sudden image of her and Rob, dancing in the middle of the floor here, arms around each other, moving to an invisible band.

Had this happened?

Of course. It all came back to her with a rush. It was the night before she was due to leave for college and he had put candles all over the ballroom, so that it was like their own magical cave. Shadows had moved round the edges, but it was only the two of them who were real, who really existed. They had whispered the loveliest things, and in the image before her, Elle could still see Rob’s lips move, his face softened by the promises he was making.