He decided not to look at her.

‘These boots aren’t mine,’ he said. ‘Nor is this coat. Didn’t you see me on the bus?’

‘What bus?’

‘The bus you got from the station. To the hotel. Didn’t you see me on the train? I was sitting about three rows behind you.’

He could feel her gaze, so he was forced to lift his eyes. He could see only confusion on her face.

‘I didn’t see you anywhere,’ she said. ‘You got off the train at the same stop as me? Burnley?’

‘Yes.’

‘You got the same bus, to the hotel?’

‘Yes.’

‘Oh.’

‘I wasn’t following you, Maria. I saw you get off the train, and I had nowhere to go, so… I don’t know why. I’m not a dangerous lunatic, I promise. But I had no destination in mind, and suddenly I was off the train and on the bus. It was a whim.’

‘What’s a whim?’

‘A whim?’

‘I don’t know that word.’

‘It’s when you don’t have a plan. Spontaneous, sudden. On impulse.’

‘But you had a reservation at the hotel.’

‘I didn’t.’

‘You must have done.’

‘I didn’t. I just turned up, hoping. By that time it was late and dark… I nearly stayed on the bus, in fact. But… I didn’t have anywhere to go, you see, so it made sense to stop at the hotel – not because you were there. But the next minute, you were in the bar with the map, and you said hello.’

He paused.

‘I should have said something earlier, I know I should. At breakfast, maybe – but I was very scared you might not want to go on the walk with me. You might think I was a… madman.’

‘Are you?’ she said.

‘What?’

‘A madman?’

‘No.’

She looked at his feet.

‘But they’re not your boots,’ she said. ‘Where did you find them?’

‘In the hotel. They have a drying room, and I think they must belong to someone who forgot them.’

‘Or someone who’s looking for them, maybe.’

‘Yes.’

She laughed and then stopped.

‘I don’t really understand this. Where were you going, really? You were on the train, the same as me. You got off the train—’

‘I didn’t have a particular place in mind.’

‘You must have, Michael. You don’t just… catch a train and say, “Let’s see what happens. Let’s see where I go.” Or maybe… Are you very rich?’

‘No.’

‘Michael?’

She was looking at him harder.