‘Well, they just don’t. Do they?’

‘I think they do,’ said Jack. ‘Like you said, it definitely looks like Clive smiles.’ He glanced down at the dog, who was now engaged in chasing a butterfly. ‘And with Clive, he’s such a happy dog, that’s quite a lot of the time.’

‘He does seem a happy dog, and he was so good with that little boy.’

‘Yes, he is. If I’d had any doubts whatsoever, I wouldn’t have said yes to little Tom.’

‘You made his day. Or Clive did.’

‘I think Clive had a lot more to do with it than me. Fancy something to eat now?’

‘Absolutely! I’m starving after all that exercise.’

‘Me too. Let’s go and get the picnic out of the car and find a good spot.’

A short time later, we spread out the blanket that Jack had brought, and Clive was lying on his own rug to the side of us. He’d had a little sniff at the food, been told to lie on his blanket, which he had done and got a treat for, and was now happily snoozing in the shade of a large oak tree, its fresh green leaves bright against the blue sky above. Little shafts of sunlight filtered through as the leaves shimmied in the soft breeze, catching Clive’s golden fur and making it almost glow.

‘Wow. This all looks amazing, Jack. There’s quite a lot here for one person, had I not come…’ I looked at him questioningly.

He grinned, then looked down, concentrating on spreading brie on some beautifully crusty bread, before topping it with wild rocket and handing it to me.

I took it, giving him a small smile as I did so. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘I’m not trying to seduce you. I’m not that deluded. You’ve prepared enough food for me since I’ve been staying. It’s the least I could do.’

This was true, but it was nice cooking for more than just me. I did it for Felix and the crew from time to time, but I’d always enjoyed cooking and there was a definite pleasure to be gained from the appreciation of food prepared by somebody else.

‘And yes, you’re right. This is quite a lot for one person. I admit, I did hope that you would be accompanying us today on our walk. After our…’ he paused, ‘disagreement, I was pretty certain that you wouldn’t, so I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you and say that I’m really pleased you came.’ He gave Clive’s side an affectionate rub. ‘We both are.’

‘Thank you. I’m glad I came too. It’s been lovely and I’m really excited to finally come and see the area I’ve read about so often. I have my own picture of it in my mind now rather than relying on adaptation’s interpretations.’

Having eaten our fill, Jack and I took a tip from Clive and lay back on the blanket, side by side. Considerately, Jack had thought to bring a cushion each for our heads and obviously I had a book, which was currently resting on my chest as I gazed at my surroundings.