We went up again. I got the stove going, made toast and tea over it and sat at the table in the window, looking out over a broad expanse of bay. Belinda had been right. There was no habitation to be seen in that direction, only grass-topped cliffs.

“So what is the plan for today?” I asked. “You surely don’t want to stay here any longer, do you?”

“I certainly don’t want to sleep another night in that bed nor have to use that loo in the cellar,” she said. “But I’m not ready to give up on the cottage yet. Besides, we’ve come all this way. You don’t want to rush straight back to Eynsleigh, do you?”

“No, of course not,” I agreed. “I just don’t fancy the bed or the loo either.”

“Oh definitely not,” Belinda said. “Especially as we have no way of preventing further night visitors.”

“You make it sound as if we might have a whole parade of them.”

“You never know. There is not much work in this part of Cornwall. The whole community might be in on the smuggling. This might be their headquarters.”

This seemed a little far-fetched to me, but I was glad that Belinda was as keen to change our place of abode as I was.

“We’re bound to find a place to stay somewhere,” she said. “If there are no hotels, then I’m sure a local person would rent out a spare room. Then I’d like to find a handyman and see what suggestions he might have about putting in a proper bathroom—oh, and a good solid door to that staircase. One we can lock.”

I nodded. “And maybe an estate agent, in case you want to sell it.”

Belinda gazed out of the window. “It’s a lovely view, isn’t it?” she said. “Look how blue the ocean is today. And the seagulls flying. It would be the perfect place to get away from the hubbub of London life.”

“Do you want to get away?” I asked with concern. “Belinda, I don’t want to feel that you are giving up on life. You always were the ultimate social butterfly. You loved parties. You used to have so much fun.”

Belinda stared past me, out to the scene beyond our window. “Maybe it’s a case of once bitten, twice shy,” she said. “I took so many risks in those days. I’m lucky I came out relatively unscathed.”

“But you want to get married one day, don’t you?” I asked.

She shrugged. “Who would have me? I’m damaged goods, Georgie.”

“Surely not. Nobody knew about the baby.”

“Even if they didn’t, I was Belinda, the party girl. The one you had fun with but not the one you introduced to your parents.”

“You’ll find the right man, I promise you.” I reached across and squeezed her hand.