We are creatures of habit, and the Horse and Hound is a good pub so it wasn't a huge coincidence that Bec and I found ourselves there a couple of nights later. What was a surprise was that the stranger was also there, sitting in the same seat as before. He caught my eye and I smiled despite myself.

"You haven't been sitting there for two days, have you?" I asked.

"Just got in," he replied, "but I was here yesterday for an hour or two."

His voice was soft but carried a warm timbre of culture and authority together with a hint of an accent. Not from these parts...