‘It’s fine, Rupert. Just a silly mistake.’ Emily closes her eyes for a moment. ‘I’d rather not think about it anymore, to be honest. Let’s concentrate on now, on being happy and making the most of our beautiful honeymoon together.’

‘As long as you are happy, Mrs Milligan.’ Rupert scoots to the end of the bed to kiss her, worried that the look on her face means she isn’t happy.

‘Of course I am.’ Emily gives him a smile, and turns to the mirror, her hands going back to fiddle with her hair again. ‘Now, are you going down to the restaurant like that, or are you going to get dressed?’

The restaurant is quiet when they arrive for their meal. Theirs is one of the tables on the edge of the restaurant floor, closest to the sea. There are no walls or windows, just a space that opens out onto the sand. A warm breeze ruffles Rupert’s hair as they wait to be seated. Tiny lights are strung across the ceiling and it is the perfect setting for romance. Rupert blinks away the vision of Caro sitting in a restaurant very like this one, just before they took a stroll onto the beach and Rupert went down on one knee in the sand, under a full moon. There is a pain, somewhere close to his heart. He still misses her, even though things weren’t perfect between them. He must be careful this evening, he thinks, not to let anything slip that will let Emily know that he’s been here before. He could kill whoever it was who recommended Barbados – why not let Emily make up her own mind about their destination?

‘Mr Milligan? How lovely to see you again.’ The maître d’ appears beside him, and Rupert recognizes him from the last time he was here, his heart leaping into his throat. He glances towards Emily, who is gazing out towards the ocean and doesn’t seem to have heard. ‘Let me show you to your table.’

Emily looks amazing this evening. She’s wearing a semi-sheer, off-the-shoulder Diane Von Fürstenberg dress in shades of green that accentuates the colour of her eyes. Rupert almost feels underdressed in his cargo shorts and pale blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt. He watches as several other guests turn to look at the pair of them as they cross the room to their table, feeling a little burst of pride that Emily, the woman all the other men in the restaurant wish was with them, is with him.

‘Have you been here before?’ Emily eyes him closely as Rupert takes his seat opposite her.

‘Errr… no, I don’t think so.’ He makes a big deal of fussing with his napkin, adjusting his cutlery so it sits dead straight on the pristine tablecloth.