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‘Because I’m trying to do the right thing here. I’ve told you that I have a different perspective on life – on the past and on the person I want to be – so it’s time to set the record straight … even if I’ve blown our chance at making a go of it again.’

‘I – didn’t know you wanted to.’ Zennor’s stomach churned. ‘Make a go of it, I mean.’

‘I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t dreamed about it. Even if it’s a long shot.’

‘So,’ Zennor said, summoning up all her composure, ‘there was nothing between you and this woman on our wedding day or while we were seeing each other? You didn’t encourage her? And, please, don’t even think of lying to me.’

He crossed his heart. ‘Nothing. She launched herself on me before I could stop her.’

Zennor snorted. ‘Oh, Trev. You’re a six-foot bloke. You make this girl sound like a – a Gladiator!’

He made the mistake of smiling again.

‘It’s not funny!’ Zennor was simmering with shock. ‘Just how well did you know her?’

‘We’d spent a couple of nights together, but it was over months before I ever met you. I was horrified when she rushed over and grabbed me but what could I do?’ His voice rose. ‘Push her off? She was young and upset. She didn’t want to accept it was over between us but I swear it was. I tried to reason with her; I tried gently to tell her to leave me alone. I held her to comfort her so she would calm down. In a way, I don’t blame Matt for what he thought he saw.’

‘But you shouted him down!’ Zennor said, and then lowered her voice, realising they were in public: ‘At the reception, I mean.’

‘Because he was wrong, and I wasn’t going to have a row with him when the situation was out of control. It was already humiliating enough. I’d have made it worse for everyone and most of all for you.’

She shook her head. ‘You swore you had no idea why he was accusing you.’

He hung his head and stared at the ground. ‘Now I wish – oh, how I wish – I’d told you why he might have got the wrong idea but I was a coward. I thought it was better – easier to keep things simple rather than fan the flames.’

She sighed in exasperation. ‘It wasn’t easier or better.’

He turned to face her and the backdrop behind her of an impossibly turquoise sea and dramatic jagged cliffs. The beauty of the place and the feeling of freedom made her want to cry. Or maybe it was the revelation that Matt – in his own way – had been right and that it somehow didn’t matter. What mattered was Trev finally admitting it.

‘You’re right and now you know the worst of me,’ he murmured.

‘Do I? There’s nothing else you want to tell me? There was no one else while we were married?’

He groaned. ‘Christ, Zen. No way!’ He crossed himself. ‘On my mum’s memory. And I’m gutted that you even felt you had to ask.’

He reached for her but she moved away, trembling inside. It was true that she’d never had any actual evidence that he’d seen other people while they’d been married. He’d flirted with some – and women had flirted with him – but he’d given her no reason to believe he’d been having an affair. Her doubts were all fuelled by Matt’s accusations at the wedding and his vague hints in the letter that he’d been trying to ‘do the right thing’.

‘If you can find it in your heart to forgive me for that one thing, it’s all I ask.’ Trev’s voice was quiet. ‘Please, can we wipe the slate clean and start again?’

‘I don’t know. I can understand it, but as for starting again, it’s too soon …’

‘Even as friends,’ he said. ‘If that’s what you want. God knows, it’s probably all I can ever ask of you.’

Friends? Zennor shook her head. Trev wasn’t the kind of man who had female friends. Colleagues, admirers … maybe.

‘Friends isn’t scary, is it?’ he went on. ‘Surely we can be that? I hate this continual tension between us. It’s why I’ve taken the biggest risk of my life and been so brutally honest.’

‘I—’ She couldn’t bring herself to say a flat no. She couldn’t be cruel and crush him. She had loved him once and still cared about him. It must have taken a ton of guts to admit the truth to her, even if that truth stung and had made her doubt him all over again.

‘I’m not saying no forever,’ she managed. ‘To friends.’

‘Phew.’ He gave an exaggerated sigh and smiled. ‘At least there’s hope.’

Zennor nodded with a heart so heavy she couldn’t return the smile, even to lighten the moment. ‘I appreciate you told me the truth, but I think I need some time to myself.’

‘OK.’ He sighed again. ‘I need a drink. It’ll have to be tea as I’m driving. You look pale, so why don’t you let me get you one and take some time before you drive all that way back to St Ives?’

After the tea, which she accepted only because she also didn’t feel collected enough to tackle the twisty journey back to St Ives from the Minack, Zennor went straight home to her flat.