Jonty laughed and put an arm round her shoulders. ‘They won’t even be a little bit surprised,’ he said comfortingly. ‘They’ve both been nudging me on to make our relationship permanent for weeks and weeks. Come on, best foot forward.’

‘Oh, but . . .’ Tess began, and had still not completed the sentence when Jonty threw open the back door, allowing brilliant lamplight to spill, golden as syrup, across the cobbles.

‘In you go,’ he said cheerfully, giving her a push when she tried to turn tail. He raised his voice. ‘We’re home, both of us. Since we’re going to get married I thought it was only right to bring Tess back for Christmas. Is that okay?’ Tess blinked in the sudden bright light, for the journey had not been a speedy one and darkness had fallen long since. She opened her mouth to explain, but wasn’t allowed to begin.

‘Well, what sort of time is this? We’ve been expecting the pair of you this past three hours,’ Mrs Bell said. ‘Being as tomorrow’s Christmas Day there’s a scrap sort of supper, but no doubt you’ll be glad of a bite before you go up the wooden stair to Bedfordshire.’ She crossed the room and gave Tess a kiss. ‘Welcome home, my woman,’ she said. ‘And about time too!’

Chapter Fifteen

EDIE AWOKE AND for a moment she lay in her warm and cosy bed, wondering why she kept glancing towards the door as though expecting someone to enter. Then she remembered and sat up on her elbow to stare at the face of the alarm clock. It was Christmas Day, and though Tess would normally have come in at any moment, bearing a tray of tea and a couple of small presents, she could scarcely do so today, since she was in Norfolk at Bell Farm.

Edie lay back on her pillows, remembering. Yesterday afternoon, as dusk fell, she and Albert had sat in the kitchen of the flat above the pet shop, waiting for Tess to return from seeing Jonty off. But when the phone rang at a little past four o’clock, neither of them had been really surprised. Tess had apologised, explained, burst into tears and then had to leave the station telephone booth because the train they were about to catch was making the sort of sounds which presaged its departure. Edie had done her best to assure Tess that everything would carry on according to plan, that her absence was not entirely unexpected, and that she would await another telephone call from her when she reached Bell Farm.

She had put the phone down and begun to explain to Albert, but he had shaken his head. ‘It’s all right, I could hear every word, and it’s what I know we’ve both been expecting,’ he assured her. ‘That child has been in love with Jonty Bell since she was just a forlorn little kid whom nobody wanted. It’s taken time for her to admit her feelings and Jonty didn’t help by being such a gentleman and never pressing her, but now everything will go swimmingly, just you see if it doesn’t.’