Cory kept hold of my hand and twisted elegantly away, holding me at arm’s length as if we were performers awaiting applause.

I looked around helplessly. The front room was empty, except for a plastic garden chair on its side. The wallpaper must have been a heavy Victorian affair when it was first hung, but it was fragile and sun bleached now. The dust was so thick on the wooden floor that our feet left prints, and with every step a blizzard of motes whirled up round our legs.

“You’ve raised the blinds?”

“Mm-hmm. And?”

“It’s . . . big?”

“Yes.” Cory squeezed my hand, as if I’d said something clever. “So . . . ? What does that put you in mind of?”

He grabbed both my hands again and began turning me in a circle, ring-around-the-rosy fashion.

“Um . . .” My nose was starting to itch.

“In relation to me . . . ?” he prompted. “And you, for that matter.”

I pulled free and smothered a sneeze against my sleeve.

“I’m not sure.”

There was an edge of impatience to his smile as he put his hands on his hips.

“What do I spend all my time doing?” he said.

“Um . . . drawing? Drawing and painting.”

“Drawing and painting you. Yes.” He seemed to stop and study me—not critically, exactly, but thoughtfully, as if puzzling something out in his head. A second later his eyes lightened, and he reached round the back of my head to undo the clip, so that my hair tumbled over my shoulders.

He smiled and pocketed the clip. “So . . . ?”

“So . . . you could make this into your new studio?” I frowned as I fingered my loosened hair. “It’s bigger than your room upstairs. And lighter. Possibly.”

Cory growled in mock exasperation.

“Not a studio, Dumbo. A gallery! And not just this room but the whole of the downstairs.”

He was off again, sliding in his bare feet across the hall, dancing me into another room. The blinds were up, and it was in much the same state, except that the pink wallpaper was actually coming unstuck, and there were strips hanging off the plaster like giant, curling tongues. Cory began ripping them off and dropping them by the armful at my feet. This was the room with the sofa, where I’d helped Diana to the day I arrived.