‘Oh, poor old Preston. It’s as bad as that?’

‘I’m sure it’s got nice parts. It’s just…’

‘You’ve never found them?’

‘I’m still hoping.’

‘Don’t give up.’

They laughed.

‘I’m off to the Lakes myself,’ he said. ‘Windermere. Do you know that part of the world?’

Ayesha shook her head.

‘You should explore,’ continued the man. ‘I went there a couple of years ago, and it’s sensational – it’s Wordsworth country, if you like him. We have a retreat there, so… yes. It’s a beautiful place.’

There was a silence, and Ayesha wasn’t sure how to proceed.

If she produced her headphones, that would be the signal he was probably expecting: he would know the conversation was over. If she spoke again, he’d assume she was happy to spend the whole journey chatting.

‘So your family’s in Preston?’ said the man, before she could decide. ‘My name’s Paul, by the way.’

‘Ayesha.’

‘And do shut me up, if you have work to do. Or… I don’t know, things to attend to on your phone. I’m just putting off reading some papers. The retreat’s a kind of conference, so there’s preparation to be done – which I can do tonight. I’m not looking forward to it.’

‘Papers for what?’

‘For the retreat.’

‘And what do you do on a retreat?’ said Ayesha.

She knew, really. What she didn’t know was why she was asking such a silly question.

‘It’s an opportunity, I suppose,’ he said.

Ayesha went to speak again, but he continued.

‘A kind of respite, from the world of work and all the… you know, the day-to-day stuff. It’s a chance to think.’

‘And how long do you go for?’

‘This one is five nights.’

‘Five nights of prayer and fasting?’

‘Oh, a great deal of prayer. Not too much fasting, I hope. Prayer is the… backbone, or the foundation – I don’t know. We’re discussing the Church’s response to homelessness.’

‘Doesn’t it have one?’

‘Oh, yes. It has a vigorous one. It’s not hard to know our Christian duty, because it’s hardly a… hardly a complicated theological issue.’

He lowered his voice a little, though they still had the four seats to themselves.

‘Nobody’s going to stand up and dispute our theoretical duty,’ he said. ‘It’s a bit harder, though, when you live in a city absolutely inundated with homeless people, and you… Well, you don’t have anywhere to put them, frankly.’

Except your church, thought Ayesha. Or your vicarage, perhaps – which is probably one of those large buildings with lots of spare rooms.