‘That horse won’t run,’ he said half regretfully. ‘She’s been ever so good to my old mam, has Angie. Visiting once a week, sometimes more, givin’ the old gal some nice fruit or a few chocolates every so often, takin’ her shoppin’ or to the flicks . . .’ He grinned ruefully. ‘Me mam thinks a great deal of Angie; she’d go mad if I telled her I’d changed my mind.’

Snowy had a brief vision of his own mother’s face if he presented her with Marilyn as a prospective daughter-in-law. To be sure the girl was a beauty, but Snowy could not imagine either of his parents regarding his liaison with a shop girl, no matter how beautiful, with complaisance. He opened his mouth to share his thoughts with Tappy, then closed it again. Whatever was he thinking of? He had no intention of changing his plans, of substituting Marilyn for Tess. Snowy sighed, then got to his feet as the train drew in at a brightly lit station and a porter hurried along the train, opening doors. They were at Lime Street station at last. The two young men gathered their possessions and climbed down on to the platform. They fought their way across the platform, which was crowded with would-be passengers as well as those descending from the train, handed their tickets in at the barrier, then stood their kit bags down and shook hands. ‘Well, it looks like we made it . . .’ Snowy said.

‘Of course, if you really beg me, I suppose I could put off returning to Norfolk until after Christmas,’ Jonty had said thoughtfully earlier that afternoon, eyeing the preparations for high tea which Edie and Tess had just completed. ‘Still, as I said, two’s company and three’s a crowd, so I’d best say goodbye, Mrs Williams, and thanks for your generous hospitality over the past couple of days.’

‘Thank you – and your parents – for all the good things which have made my Christmas catering so much easier,’ Edie had said. She had pinched Jonty’s cheek. ‘People change; you’ve grown up a lot in the last few years, young man. Let’s not say goodbye, however, but au revoir.’ She had glanced shrewdly from Tess’s determined smile to Jonty’s bland expression. ‘Something tells me we’ll be seeing more of you in the New Year, and very welcome you’ll be. After all, you’ve scarcely seen Janine or the baby, and since Janine says she wants you and Tess to be godparents you’ll have to come back for the christening, if nothing else.’

‘I say, that’s a real honour. I’ve never been a godparent before,’ Jonty said. He turned to Tess. ‘Did you hear that, my woman? We’re going to be godparents.’

Tess heaved a sigh, ‘Yes, I know; Gran told me earlier,’ she said. ‘Look, we’ve already missed two trains and if you’re to catch the next one we need to get a move on. Have you got everything? Right, then off we go.’