‘Thank you,’ she said, smiling simply. Unlike with Rob, she didn’t want to pass off the compliment, considering who it was coming from. ‘And thank you for all your help with the albums too. You don’t know how much that means to me. I would never have been able to find so many in such a short space of time without your help.’

He shrugged. ‘It was nothing, but I know how important it was to you and Ned. Happy to help.’

He held her closely, but lightly. He smelt vaguely citrusy. He had told her he had a personal scent mixed for him in London, and she had made fun of that, but he did smell delicious. She almost wanted to lean into his neck and inhale.

‘Are you happy with tonight?’ he asked.

‘Very,’ she said. ‘It’s wonderful to see the hotel sparkle again. And at the very least, it’s a nice way to say goodbye, isn’t it? But I do hope very much, that it will save us. I don’t know what I’ll do next otherwise.’

‘Well, I’ve only been here a very short time but I feel the same. It’s funny how quickly, if the mix of location and people is just right, that a place begins to feel like home. I want you to be happy Penny. I hope the hotel is saved for you.’

‘I think that even if that happens though,’ Penny said, her voice tentative, ‘I couldn’t be entirely happy, if . . .’

Colin waited. He thought that surely she would say it, must say it. It needed to be from her. He couldn’t risk making her feel any undue pressure while she was so vulnerable.

‘If you were to leave,’ she finished.

He was silent and Penny burned with embarrassment. How could she have been so foolish? He had been a charming friend, nothing else. Of course he was showing so much interest in her situation purely for material for his book, nothing else. If she could eat her words, one by bitter one, she would.

Finally, Colin spoke. Very casually, he said, ‘Well, I’ve rather fallen in love with you, Penny, so I believe I’ll stick around after all.’

Chapter 35

Elle watched Colin and her sister dancing. They seemed to have been speaking very seriously, but then she saw Colin spin Penny suddenly, and then dip her so that her fair hair swung almost to the floor. Her sister was laughing uproariously, in a way that reminded her very much of their mother.

People had been coming up to her all night to talk about Anna. She may have come across like a hearty, open person, but it turned out she had kept secrets as well as the hotel had, over the years.