By the time Glenys had got the children into their beds that night she was exhausted, but very happy. It had been a splendid day, she thought, sitting down at the kitchen table between Sam and Nain and pouring herself a cup of tea, a positively wonderful day. The corn was harvested and in stooks, waiting to be stacked, the guests had been royally fed, and the weather, despite some early fears, had been perfect. The sun had shone from a cloudless sky and not one disagreement had arisen to spoil the atmosphere, though it was a well known fact that some of the guests had not been on speaking terms for years.

‘Well, my love? I dare say you’re wore out, but you’ve given my old girl a day to remember, that’s for sure!’ Taid beamed at Glenys, and then reached over and patted Sam’s shoulder. ‘And I can’t leave you out, Sam, because I know well that you and Glenys planned the whole day . . . and what a day it’s been!’

The four adults were sitting round the kitchen table, the men with mugs of Taid’s home brew, the women with cups of tea. Nain was wearing her new Peter Pan collar, which she kept touching as though to make sure it was real, and Taid, seeing the movement, got to his feet, bent creakingly over, and kissed his wife’s cheek. ‘Well, old lady?’ he said fondly. ‘I think it’s about time you were in bed after such a day.’

Nain protested, but when Sam said that since Glenys had done the washing up he and Taid would dry and put away, she agreed that she was indeed weary. ‘But it’s a happy weariness,’ she assured them, getting to her feet. She turned to Glenys. ‘If you’ve finished the washing up, cariad, will you come upstairs with me and help me to get out of this very fine, Sunday-go-to-meeting dress? Then you can come down again and make sure that the men have cleared away properly.’

Sam and Taid protested that of course they would clear away properly, and Glenys and the older woman headed for the stairs. Pushing open the old couple’s bedroom door, Glenys realised that she had never been in this room before. Taid had dealt with the bed-making and general tidying whilst his wife could not do so.

She looked around her appreciatively. There was a rose-patterned carpet on the floor, and the curtains at the window, she saw when she went across to draw them, were also covered in roses. There were two bedside cabinets and a washstand – more roses – two easy chairs, and a walnut wardrobe and dressing table. Nain had followed her into the room, and now smiled around possessively as Glenys said: ‘What a pretty room! Knowing how fond you are of roses in the garden I suppose I should have guessed that you’d have them in your room as well.’

Nain nodded and sank into one of the easy chairs – basketwork, with roses on the cushion – with a little sigh. ‘It’s good to be back,’ she said, as though she had been away for years. ‘This was my parents’ room when I was a girl and I had the room you have now, which was Grace’s room, as I expect you’ve been told. Of course the furnishings are different, but the view is the same.’ She was regarding Glenys and obviously expected a reply.