‘Get on all right without me?’ she asked, slinging her coat on a hook, slumping into a chair and accepting the offered cup of tea. ‘It’s a lovely farm and the young chap, the farmer’s son, is really nice and treats the rabbits just the way I would.’

‘Well, that’s grand,’ Gran said vaguely. ‘You’ve got some post; want to read it now, or save it till later? It looks like young Bell’s writing to me.’

‘Oh, I’ll read it now,’ Tess said, taking the envelope eagerly, slitting it open and producing a single sheet. She stared at it uncomprehendingly for a moment, then turned to Gran. ‘It’s – it’s from Jonty all right,’ she said. ‘The Bells are having a little celebration for their ruby wedding and Jonty would like me to be there. He says it would be an ideal opportunity for me to meet Pamela. It’s not for a while yet, but Jonty’s let me know in plenty of time because he guessed I’d have to arrange for someone to keep an eye on the shop.’

‘Well, isn’t that lovely?’ Gran said, but Tess thought her glance was far too searching. ‘You’ll go, of course?’

‘Of course,’ Tess echoed. She stood up and had the oddest feeling that the room was whirling around her. She went over to where her coat hung and fished in the pocket, producing a card of the angora wool which young Mr Sheraton had given her. She put it down on the table rather blindly. ‘Take a look at this,’ she invited, and then gave a loud and unconvincing yawn. ‘I’m awful tired, Gran. If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go straight off to bed. You can tell me how you and Mitch managed in the morning.’

Feeling very guilty, Edie had let her eyes scan Tess’s letter as the girl had held it rather helpelssly in one hand, and now she sat at the kitchen table, her mind buzzing quite as actively as she guessed Tess’s must be. Poor girl, poor little Tess, Edie mourned, for she had read the despair in Tess’s expression as the child had stared blindly in front of her. What a mess, what a muddle, and how many lives would be ruined if Tess refused to admit her own feelings and if Jonty, believing her to be unobtainable, actually married this Pamela girl.

But there’s nothing I can do, because it truly is none of my business, Edie told herself miserably. All I can do is be there for Tess after she’s seen Pamela and Jonty together. Oh dear, young love! How complicated and how sad; yet sometimes how happy and beautiful!

Edie stood up and carried her empty mug over to the sink, reflecting that she and Albert were lucky; their friendship was warm and close but, as she put it, without strings. They had none of the uncertainties which were part and parcel of young love, yet the warmth of their companionship was a real comfort, something to cling to when life’s storms broke. Edie rinsed her mug, stood it on the draining board and checked that the fire was banked down, and the table laid for breakfast next day. Then she left the kitchen, closing the door softly behind her, and went into her own bedroom to prepare for bed. Albert had been in earlier and they had discussed the day’s work in the pet shop and the tobacconist’s and had decided that it was high time they booked another coach trip. Tess and Mr Clarke were more than capable of managing without them for a day.