The hotel itself looked majestic. Elle had purposefully chosen this exact time of day for the arrival of the guests. It was dusky enough that any of the hotel’s flaws or shabbier features were hidden by shadow, and by the orange glow of the setting sun glinting off each window, making the building appear to glow warmly.

Guests were ushered into the dining room to partake in pre-dinner snacks and drinks. Helpers from the SugarTree Restaurant glided smoothly between the groups, offering tall glasses of champagne. Though she hadn’t approached him, surly Anthony had surprised Elle by very kindly offering to send up some of his waiting staff to help out on the night. On other trays appeared all the best-known classics of the hotel: tiny apple tarts, miniature fairy-cakes, bite-sized cucumber sandwiches. On this Elle had been adamant: the canapés were to be pure nostalgia, to be instantly recognisable as food people had eaten there in the past at some important point in their lives.

Rob watched people talking and laughing happily. The dining room looked perfect when it was filled with people, almost like something out of another era.

The long tables, set for dinner, had large bowls of water in the middle, filled with floating gerbera. Candelabras set around the place in various nooks and crannies gave a feel of the party existing in the past, as though they had all been transported to a celebration of the hotel when it was newly opened. The light flickered and made the detail in the paintings appear to move.

He saw Della and Jim being greeted by Elle, the three of them laughing and whispering about something.

Elle looked unbelievably beautiful tonight. She seemed to glow with an inner confidence, and the candlelight caught her flaming hair and made it shine. He had to turn away; he couldn’t look at her. It hurt his eyes.

He wondered when the business part of the evening would begin. Surely there would be some kind of appeal to the people of the town for finance. Otherwise what was the point of all this?