She found him in the kitchen half an hour later, eating bread and cheese and drinking a cup of tea. She’d switched tactics now. Charm would be better.

‘What are you hiding out here for?’ she asked, smiling. ‘It’s a party. You should be having fun.’

‘I’m sorry, what did you say?’ He raised his head from the book he’d been reading. His eyes were unfocused, as though part of him was still buried in the pages, and he didn’t seem to have noticed her smile.

‘It’s a party. Come and have fun. Don’t be boring out here.’

‘Better than being boring in there,’ he said, indicating the noise with his head.

‘Who says you’re boring?’

He shrugged. ‘I would be to them.’ His tone suggested that he wasn’t breaking his heart over this.

‘So live a little.’

‘By “live” you mean drink too much and make a fool of myself? No, thanks. I did that in my first year at Uni, and who needs to repeat an experience?’

He was dividing his attention between Ellie and his book, making no secret of the fact that she couldn’t go fast enough for him.

‘You mean we’re boring, don’t you?’ she demanded, nettled.

He shrugged. ‘If the cap fits.’ Then he looked up from the book, giving her his whole attention. ‘I’m sorry, that was rude of me.’

‘Yes, it was,’ noticing that his smile was gentle and charming.

‘What’s the party about?’

‘It’s my birthday-and Grace’s.’

‘How old are you?’

‘Nineteen.’ He laid down the book and regarded her, his head on one side. ‘All right, not quite nineteen,’ she admitted.

He looked her up and down in a way that made her think he was getting the point at last, but when he spoke it was only to say, ‘Not quite eighteen, either.’

‘I’m seventeen today,’ she admitted.

‘Don’t sound so disappointed. Seventeen is a lot of fun.’

‘How would you know? I’ll bet you were never seventeen.’

He laughed at that. ‘I was, but it’s lost in the mists of time.’