“I wasn’t,” Johnny said. He stirred the teapot. “I’d rather not talk about it, to be honest. I’ve got a bit of a reputation for being...” He hesitated. “Well, let’s just say that I see things that most people don’t. I can tune in to the past and see it as though I’m actually there...” He shifted uncomfortably. “A few years ago, when my sister Amelia had just died and before Lizzie and Arthur got together, I got in over my head. There was some stuff in the press about me communing with ghosts—stupid stuff, but it was newsworthy because Amelia was a supermodel married to a pop star and Lizzie...” He spread his hands in a gesture of resignation.

“I remember,” Lucy said, thinking back to the lurid headlines that had greeted the death of Amelia Dudley. She put a hand on Johnny’s arm. “I’m very sorry. Losing someone important to you is horrible.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “Thank you. I still miss her so much. I think that’s why Finn doesn’t mind me being around him actually. I understand how crap it is to be bereaved and I don’t pretend, or try to make him talk if he doesn’t want to or whatever... Anyway...” He scrubbed a hand through his hair again. “I promised Arthur I’d never got involved with any sort of paranormal experience again after Amelia’s death, so when Catherine’s ghost appeared—not that I knew her name until recently—I was a bit annoyed.”

Lucy smiled. “That’s the most original reaction I’ve heard to someone seeing a ghost,” she said, “but I know what you mean.”

Johnny grinned back. “Yeah, well. I’d given my word and then this dead person popped up and was trying to tell me something... So I’m afraid I ignored her.”

Lucy poured the tea for them both. “So you saw her before I came here?” she said. “That’s interesting.”

“I had dreams about her,” Johnny said. Lucy thought he was blushing. “That’s why I was asking you whether you’d ever seen ghosts when you stayed in that room as a child... But when you arrived I stopped dreaming, which was a relief. I realized she’d attached herself to you because every time I saw you, she was around. I guess you didn’t see her though?”

“Not always,” Lucy said. “The day we met, when you sort of looked over my shoulder as though there was someone else there...”

“Yes.” Johnny said. “She was standing right next to you.” He looked shamefaced. “I’ve been seeing these things since I was a child but it still feels odd to talk about it, you know? I’m sure people think I’m crazy.”

“I’m hardly in a position to criticize,” Lucy said. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. I thought I was losing my mind when I first started experiencing it.”

“I think Catherine attached herself to you because you were grieving,” Johnny said carefully. “Maybe you guessed that? It’s the emotion that’s significant. When Finn told me about what had happened to your career, I realized that must be the link. I think she’s grieving for something too.”