When she returned home that afternoon, Dr McCluskie had arrived as promised and seemed to have put Ewan McBride in an exceptionally good mood. Duncan McCluskie was a slim, mild-mannered man. On first sight his blue eyes seemed to hold a melancholy seriousness, but this changed, when he smiled, into an impish cheerfulness as he shook Lily’s hand. ‘Miss Waters!’ His Scottish accent was like crisp mountain ice. ‘How nice to make your acquaintance.’ ‘How d’you do?’ Lily said, deciding he looked reasonably pleasant. She had no idea of what Dr McBride had told his friend about her, but assumed he had told him that she was the housekeeper. But then Dr McBride said, ‘Dr McCluskie will be staying in the middle room, and we’ll be dining together. I hope you’ll join us one evening, Lily?’ ‘Yes, Doctor,’ she said, obediently, though she felt a blush spread all over her, and she was sure she saw a sudden sharp look of curiosity come into Dr Mc-Cluskie’s eyes. What on earth must he think!
