'During the Middle Ages Winchelsea used to be a hub for wine trading whereas now it's a quiet town with a population of only six hundred people,' the agent tells Ruth, whilst in the background Harry is signing on the dotted line in the immaculately tidy sitting room, with one eye on the clock because after the trauma of the previous evening they are going to do something mundane but necessary which is to search out the local store and stock up. The idea being that they buy something to eat here at lunchtime, maybe go for a walk in the afternoon and then cook together in the evening. The first of which they achieve having spotted a delivery van turning left in front of the church towards what when they find it is surprisingly large supermarket given the size of the population, although not before Amanda as she had insisted they call her has disappeared with a flourish heading for Rye, which had been another option when they had been scrolling through the details of what had been a variety of properties that were available to rent at this time of year, until they had chosen this one for the simple reason than they had both liked the look of it.
That they have never been domestic before other than in their heads but to an outsider must look as though they have been together for years thinks Ruth sighing with a newly found contentment, as Harry wanders off in search of the wine section leaving her to choose whatever else she thinks they might need, her outpouring of the previous evening locked in one of Tom's boxes and will stay there, as is the certainty that when she and Harry share a bed tonight that he will put her needs before his own, but at this moment is wondering if he likes his eggs fried boiled or poached for breakfast, is a ridiculous thought she knows but is why she is still smiling when they go through the checkout and as a means to distract herself from thinking too far ahead when they are sitting in the kitchen with a bowl of soup and a plate of sandwiches bought at the deli counter in front of them and despite Malcolm having told them to put the past behind them, she asks Harry something that at the time she had wondered, 'when we were sitting in that dreadful room why did you think I'd got married in Cyprus?'
Assuming that there will be a simple enough reason, Harry's response after a moment during which she can see the cogs turning in his head combined with an expression of realisation which is to say, 'no shiny new ring on your finger I see Harry, to which I responded I couldn't find one that fitted means - Christ Ruth it was Connie James who gave you up,' of course leaves Ruth none the wiser but to Harry it is another unwelcome reminder how for decades before she had blown herself up rather than face life in prison, Connie had joined what is now an uncomfortably long list of once respected colleagues who have succeeding in betraying him. Something which sees him successfully fighting the urge to use language that is totally inappropriate about his ability to read people given it was Ruth who had asked the question and instead tell her the back story and how he Hugo and Connie had worked together to fool the Russians, only for her to set him up as a Russian mole to be tortured until he barely knew which day it was and how it was only because Ros and Malcolm had pieced it all together that he wasn't in an unimaginable hellhole where according to the HS Nicholas Blake he would have been stripped of his knighthood, his pension and with no chance of seeing the outside world ever again.
That and she'd then had the audacity to suggests that she accompany him to the Palace because there had been no Lady Pearce on the horizon he doesn't mention for the simple reason that had Ruth been there, with or without the title, she might well have targeted her personally, or does he intend telling her unless she asks which at some time knowing Ruth she will are the circumstances which had led to both Adam and Zaf being killed because Malcolm is right she isn't ready to be thrown back into the murky world that he will eventually have to return to and yes as stunned he might be having realised it was Connie, it is not enough to stop him from suggesting that when they've finished lunch that they go for a walk as planned on Winchelsea Beach, described as vast when the tide is out, in fact he needs the fresh air to clear his head.
.
Vast at any time is how it seems and just as cold as it had been in Hastings, but this time not only are they both wearing warm coats but Harry has taken the precaution of bringing his trusty rug to wrap around them. His motive maybe beyond just the thought that Ruth might be cold but she no longer cares as they lean back against the sea wall with a cup of tea that they have bought from an optimistic vendor who comes here every day come rain or shine he told them as does his friend Charlie who owns the ice cream van, watching the seagulls who are ducking and diving in search of whatever has been left on the beach that is edible.
Although not obvious enough it seems to Ruth for Harry to start a conversation about bedtime which she takes to mean that he is still thinking about what George had done, whereas she wants nothing more than for Harry to take her to bed and is why most unlike her she puts her hand on his thigh and says, 'I meant what I said the other morning Harry, I want this as much as you do.'
'Not on the beach though but if you're sure,' at least for the moment takes the pressure off and makes Ruth laugh, although not sufficiently for her to remove her hand when Harry places his on top of hers because despite the fact that Harry had gone through a hell that she would never have known about had she not come back, or maybe because she now does and despite what had happened to her somehow makes it feel as though things have been evened out, enough that she allows herself to drown in the eyes which to her have always been liquid gold.
Which causes the this as Ruth had called it, to not surprisingly becomes the starter before dinner but not before Harry has said, 'are you sure?' To which Ruth had responded by heading up the stairs preceded by a look that said are you kidding me? After which clothes had flown, in the same way that Harry's determination that he was going take his time proved impossible when Ruth's hand returned to his thigh, during a half-hearted attempt by him to slow things down by kissing her. Before becoming an unspoken wow that was over far too quickly and made Harry more determined than ever that when they come to bed that night not only was he going to prove to Ruth how much he has longed for this moment but that he is nothing like George or ever will be when it comes to how he makes love to her.
Because unlike George who had used her for his own gratification he will never do anything that he will later come to regret and is is why if it had been anyone other than Malcolm who had rung to ask if they had settled in, Harry would in all likelihood have ignored the call, given that he and Ruth had coped remarkably well in a kitchen that was new to them and now they were currently sitting either side of the table with the sun having long gone down enjoying the first meal that they had cooked together, except together wasn't a word which was likely to feature in Malcolm's life and was why they have determined to follow his progress and from time to time go and to see him on what he had described as an adventure.
That he will achieve his ambition, which is in increments to walk the coastal paths where they exist and catch either a bus or train where they don't until he arrives in West Wales where his great grandfather, had according to the research he has done been a farrier, although not until the Spring by which time he will have visited numerous castles they don't doubt, or will they ever forget how over the years it has been Malcolm who had seen in them what others hadn't is why, 'yes we're fine and we meant what we said, so we'll pick you up at nine on Thursday morning and no changing your mind this time.' Harry tells him.