He realised very quickly that it had been a mistake not to attend the party on Saturday night. He certainly hadn’t experienced anything like this before.

In Dublin, he hadn’t had to deal with people on such an . . . intimate level, and he didn’t particularly like it. He much preferred to view these people as the numbers on (or indeed in) their bank accounts, or the interest that gathered on their debts.

It was giving him a headache to think of all their endless stories about birthdays, romantic proposals, weddings, plain old family dinners. One man had brought his wedding photos in to show him, for goodness’ sake.

When the investors appeared again, they looked grim. ‘We’d hoped to keep the original structure as the common areas and add on to it,’ Elle heard one of them say to Paddy, as they went back to their cars. ‘People love that kind of thing, modern bedrooms and the old building to house reception and dining areas and such. But I’m afraid it is in a terrible state. If we decide to buy, then it will certainly be at a massively reduced price. But at the moment, we are still undecided.’

When Doug returned to his office that afternoon, he had a visitor. It was Maurice O’Rourke. Doug had no huge liking for his predecessor, in fact he had thought he was a bit of a soft touch. When he took over, he had immediately identified many ways in which the bank could be making more money. ‘Having some trouble with the Harte place?’ Maurice commented.

‘As a matter of fact, yes.’

‘I told you from the beginning, but you didn’t want to listen. There’s more to being branch manager in a small town than just moving cash around. It’s about knowing people.’

‘I’d prefer not to know people, thanks very much. I want to deal with their money, not their problems.’

‘Sometimes it amounts to the same thing,’ Maurice pointed out. ‘And I’ll tell you another thing, people in this community have long memories. They won’t forget it, if you do the wrong thing by the Hartes. But I get the feeling that they’ve let you know that themselves.’ He got up to leave. ‘Don’t be a fool about this one, Doug. It might come back to bite you.’

Doug thought for a long time after Maurice left. He sighed, realising he might just have painted himself into a corner.

On Wednesday morning, Rob drove Celeste to the airport.

‘Thanks so much for letting me stay,’ she said. ‘I’m just sorry it took me and Dan so long to come round.’

‘Not a problem,’ said Rob. ‘I don’t think I could have a relationship like yours and Dan’s, no offence. It just seems like a lot of drama.’