At 10:30, Doug Grant finally appeared. Elle felt like giving him a round of applause. He swept into the room and looked around as though expecting someone else, even though she was the only one in the waiting area. He was a small man, given slightly to thickness around his middle. His face was bland and unremarkable and his hair a mousey brown, restrained by copious amounts of gel.

He took Elle’s hand. ‘Hello,’ he said. ‘I was immersed in some paperwork.’

‘That’s fine,’ Elle replied pleasantly, though inside she was seething that he hadn’t had the good manners to offer an apology. Still she knew she had to turn on the charm. ‘How was your holiday?’

He looked surprised at the question. ‘What’s that? Oh yes, I have been away. Italy. Had to take the wife; she gets bored out of her tree here. But I tell you, I just can’t stand to be away from work too long. I was thinking about numbers the whole time we were looking at Roman ruins.’

Elle chuckled politely, not altogether convinced he had made a joke.

They sat in his cubicle and Grant looked at her expectantly over his desk. There was a file in front of him; she assumed it was the hotel finances.

‘Well,’ she said, deciding to take the reins since he seemed to expect her to. ‘Our mother died recently and my sister and I need to make repairs and renovations to the hotel.’

As soon as Elle began to speak, Doug started to nod impatiently, as though he knew what she had come to say and just wished she would get to the point.

‘Obviously we need finance to carry out these repairs, as it seems there isn’t enough cash on hand in the business account at present.’

‘I see,’ said Grant at last, looking down at the paperwork. ‘And how much do you need to make these . . . repairs.’

Elle said the amount out loud for the first time and the tiny space seemed to echo with it. Grant flicked again through the file in front of him, and a small smile began to quiver around his lips.

‘My family has a longstanding history with this bank,’ Elle felt the need to say, as this man clearly hadn’t the slightest knowledge or indeed interest in the business, ‘particularly with your predecessor. Maurice was a great friend of the hotel.’

‘The thing is,’ Grant said, as if Elle hadn’t spoken. ‘That’s a huge amount. I can’t see how a company with these finances could support such a substantial amount of additional borrowing. To say nothing of existing outstanding liabilities . . .’

‘Well, there’s a substantial amount of repairs,’ said Elle, trying not to sound curt.

‘Yes, I gather that. So I approve further finance, or rather, the bank approves finance, you make these repairs, and then what?’ He waited and seemed to genuinely expect an answer to his question.