She moved her arms in the way he’d shown her, her chin up, but she had none of his elegance in the water, her body more like a bladder than a blade. His hands lifted off her waist but he stayed by her side as she inched forward in jerky movements, caught somewhere between panic and delight. ‘That’s it, that’s it!’

‘Am I doing it?’ she gasped. ‘Are you holding me?’

‘I’m right here, you’re doing fantastically well. Don’t stop, keep going.’

One of the dogs had come down to the beach and was barking beside Poppit, who was sitting silently on the sand, her ears up and watching them with a hint of anxiety.

A small wave lifted Effie up; she could feel its muted power as it swept under her body, but it did her no harm and she gave a laugh of delight – only for the next wave to come at her unawares so that she caught a mouthful of sea water. In an instant she was coughing and spluttering, her confidence gone. Instinctively she straightened up and began to sink, but Sholto’s hands were back on her immediately, holding her up as she struggled to catch a clean breath.

She could feel the salt in her throat, her body wanting to gag. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked, rubbing her back as she continued coughing. ‘Do you want to go in?’

She shook her head. She wanted to stay here, half hidden in the water, no matter what, because when they came out . . . what could their excuse be to be together then? She could feel his fingertips digging into her waist, knowing exactly what she wasn’t saying, wanting more than this too. ‘I know,’ he whispered, dropping the public act.

But she couldn’t stop coughing, she had swallowed too much water, and this time he lifted her without asking, carrying her into the shallows where she could stand with her hands on her knees and catch a breath.

‘Ugh,’ she groaned when eventually the coughing had stopped, her head hanging. ‘That was awful.’

‘It is, yes. But you won’t do it again, I can assure you.’

She looked up at him. They were all but out of the water now and the shock of air on her sea-soaked skin sowed a field of goosepimples over her body. The wind was coming in more strongly, in ever more frequent gusts.

‘Your lips are going blue,’ he said, looking like he wanted to kiss them pink again. ‘We need to get you warm and dry.’