There's sincerity in that, all of it, and Darlington smiles. Just as he had at the end of their meeting in the museum courtyard, he has the sense the two of them have turned some kind of corner here. An odd one, maybe, given the first impression each of them got of the other, but Darlington's never shied away from something new and strange. "I'm lucky it worked out," he says. "I wasn't at my best, as well you know, and...Alex knows what she likes. And who, despite everything."

He straightens up slightly, rolling his shoulders. "Don't mean to keep you from your run," he says, even though it had been Caleb who'd initiated the pause they'd both found themselves in. "Had you just started, or were you on your way back?"