‘Why not?’ he laughs. He takes my hand and pulls me to my feet, and we head back to the cottage where I rustle up a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast. I manage to eat a few mouthfuls, which is encouraging, though my stomach has shrunk and I’m very quickly full.

Liam’s impatient to get going and make the most of the sunny weather, so I hurry upstairs and pull on a jumper – a blue cashmere that’s butter-soft and brings out my eyes.

‘I like that colour on you,’ Liam says when I come back down.

‘Well, you’ve got good taste,’ I joke. He’s the one who bought it for me after all.

‘I do,’ he says, winking at me.

We leave the cottage, Liam locking the door behind us, and stroll along the beach. Eventually it peters out and we’re forced to head inland into the woods on the western side of the island that lead toward the cliffs.

‘So, what are we looking for exactly?’ I ask Liam as we make our way through the woods.

‘They’re usually raised mounds of earth, and sometimes they’re topped with stones, a bit like the cairn you built on the beach,’ he says eagerly. ‘This one is from around the sixth century. It’s where the ancient tribes, the Picts and the Celts, used to bury their dead.’

‘So, it’s a grave?’ I ask.

‘Yeah’ Liam replies.

‘Right,’ I say, not sure why anyone would want to go looking for an ancient gravesite, but not wanting to mention that to Liam as he’s obviously desperate to find it.

‘Often, when Christianity first arrived in a place and took hold, the church would build on top of what had been pagan sites of worship,’ Liam explains. ‘So, I’m thinking that the logical place to look would be around the area where the medieval chapel is. It was marked on the map.’

I follow him as he strides through the woods, on a mission to locate the chapel. He’s so keen that I have to hurry to keep up with him.

‘Who’s buried in the barrow?’ I ask.

He shrugs. ‘No idea. But probably someone important. The Picts and the Celts didn’t always bury their dead; I read somewhere that they left criminals’ bodies out in the open to be eaten by animals and the elements. So, people who were interred in the barrows were likely VIPs – kings or priests – but no one knows for sure.’

I muse on that, wondering if women were ever considered important enough to be laid to rest with any ceremony. Probably not.

‘Did they bury people with treasure, like the Vikings did with their dead?’