‘The four I bought are all bluey-grey, and they’ve got golden eyes; they’re really awfully pretty, but of course it isn’t their looks, it’s their wonderful wool which makes them expensive.’ Tess laughed. ‘They are the luxury end of the market, so to speak. I don’t think many ordinary pet owners will want them, but we’ll have to wait and see.’

Gran nodded wisely. ‘Wait and see is often the name of the game,’ she said. She began to eat her porridge, finished her helping and reached for her cup of tea. ‘Will Mitch ring the bell when he arrives? Or ought I to go down right now and wait for him?’

‘I don’t know, ’cos I’ve never been late before,’ Tess said ruefully. ‘But knowing Mitch, I suspect he’ll simply stand in the doorway and wait.’ She glanced up at the clock. ‘No need to rush down, Gran. It’s not even a quarter to nine, so you’re safe for a bit, and I want to ask you something.’

‘I thought you might,’ Gran said shrewdly. ‘That letter, the one from Jonty, upset you, didn’t it?’ She watched as Tess finished her porridge and picked up her teacup, then put it down again.

‘It didn’t exactly upset me, but it made me think,’ Tess said. ‘You see, I believe I’ve taken my friendship with Jonty for granted. He was just a boy who had been kind to me when I was a kid, and then a workmate on his dad’s farm. I never truly thought of him as a young man, even when he was grown up. But it was different with Snowy. When I first met him he was Marilyn’s boyfriend, very much a grown-up. And when he took my side it was like a film star stepping down from the silver screen to champion a beggar maid . . .’

Gran laughed. ‘Some beggar maid!’ she observed. ‘Even in those days you had a lot going for you, queen. But right now I can see you’re in a difficult position. You were always far more at ease with Jonty than you are with Snowy. But you’ve not seen Snowy for the past couple of years and he’s been fighting a war, a man amongst men, which will have changed him. When he comes home it’ll be a different Snowy White from the one you waved off so merrily two years ago. And Jonty too will have changed, though not as radically as Snowy—’

‘But I’ve changed as well, Gran,’ Tess cut in quickly. ‘Haven’t I?’

Gran smiled. ‘Two years changes everyone,’ she observed. ‘Particularly when you’re young. Now, Tess, your trouble is that you’ve been forced to realise that Jonty has a life of his own, as indeed do you. I don’t know whether Jonty is really in love with this Pamela or whether they’re just good friends, but you’re scared you’ve made a big mistake . . .’

Tess had been gazing into her empty porridge dish as though it were a crystal ball, but now she raised her eyes and met Gran’s glance squarely. ‘I think that Jonty is as muddled and unsure as I am, or that was what I thought until the letter arrived. That’s changed things, put them on a different footing. When I go back to Bell Farm I’ll be able to see at a glance if he really loves Pamela, and if he does then that just leaves Snowy, and I’ll have to be content with him, because he never so much as mentions other women.’