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been hot to wear every day. She wiped flour from her right hand and held it out. ‘Welcome to Hyperion House.’
    ‘Senora Delgadillo has been with the property a long time,’ said Mateo, his eyes full of meaning. ‘She’s seen many owners come and go.’
    ‘You make me sound so old,’ admonished the housekeeper. She was not predisposed to smiling, but seemed tentatively friendly. ‘I am very pleased to make your acquaintance.’
    ‘I’m sure we’re going to be great friends,’ I said uncertainly. ‘You speak English beautifully.’
    ‘My husband was from your country, God rest him. Perhaps you would like to tidy yourself before dinner. You will find your suite prepared at the top of the stairs.’ The interview was over. She turned and was gone a moment later. Mateo made a face.
    ‘Apparently Rosita has a very precise list of the things she does, and the times when she does them,’ he explained softly. ‘She’s already made it clear to me that she prefers not make friends with the owners. She says she’d rather consider herself a servant. I think she preferred life under Franco. She doesn’t carry bags or do any heavy lifting. She’s waiting for a hip replacement.’
    ‘Does she cook?’
    ‘Yup – and she says she’ll teach you.’
    ‘Oh God, I can see we’re going to be gutting fish together,’ I said, only half joking. ‘Leave the cases. I want us to see everything.’
    Mateo grinned. ‘I went through the inventory and studied the surveyor’s report, wasn’t that enough?’
    I playfully grabbed his hand and led the way. ‘No, I want you to show me around properly this time. Come on.’ Even the staircase and landings were bathed in brightly filtered light.
    ‘Have you even counted how many rooms there are?’ Mateo peered into the main drawing room.
    ‘I made it twenty-two, not including the servants’ quarters.’ I pushed the first door wider. ‘We don’t have to live in all of them.’
    ‘I seem to remember the ground floor has two drawing rooms,’ Mateo said.
    ‘The house was designed with distinct male and female areas, for the sake of propriety. The gentlemen’s quarters are larger and a bit more sombre. There was probably a billiard table there once.’
    ‘Hmm – maybe we should re-install it. I can see myself breaking out the cigars over a game.’
    ‘Don’t get any ideas about going back to pre-emancipation days.’ I followed him into a vast, dazzling room dominated by its window. ‘The view’s the same from almost everywhere in the house,’ I said. ‘The light gets right in, all the way to the back. Sometimes it’s reflected back by the mantelpiece mirrors. It’s very cleverly constructed.’
    I walked to the glass and looked down. My view was framed by two amber mountains, one topped with an honest-to-God ruined fort. Between them were miles of green fields, and in the distance beyond those lay a cobalt ribbon of sea that separated Spain from the coast of Africa, with the tilted rock of Gibraltar visible through the haze.
    ‘That’s Tangiers on the far shore,’ Mateo pointed out. ‘At night it’s so brightly illuminated that sometimes it blots out the stars. What do you think?’
    I struggled to find the words. ‘It feels – connected to the world,’ I said finally. ‘I don’t think I’d ever find it lonely here.’
    ‘Even a London girl like you?’
    ‘In London you’re never alone for more than a minute, even when you feel completely isolated.’
    Even though there was not another human being within sight between here and the coastline, the shape of the house seemed specifically designed to draw in sunshine and bright colours, and prevent loneliness. The mountain at its back reached out arms of warm rock that embraced the building, cradling it into the landscape.
    ‘Okay, where to next?’
    I checked the ring in my pocket. ‘That’s odd.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘The agent said there had been a mistake with the keys. She didn’t have the ones to