Married! Her grandfather wanted her to be married, and worse still to someone she had never even met. Rising, she began to pace the floor. As soon as she heard the front door slam, she peeped from the window and watched her grandfather climb into the coach that the groom had fetched from the stables at the back of the house and leave for the mill he owned in Attleborough. Seconds later a tap came on her bedroom door and her mother appeared looking pale and terribly upset.

‘Oh, darling, I’m so sorry,’ she muttered, rushing over to Holly and wrapping her arms about her slim figure. ‘I had no idea he had this in mind until he told me this morning.’

Holly wriggled free of the embrace and resumed her pacing. ‘Well, you know the old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink,’ she spat, with a toss of her head.

Her mother chewed on her lip as she watched her precious girl marching up and down as if she was trying to wear a hole in the carpet.

‘P-perhaps Walter will be nice?’ she suggested softly, and Holly snorted in disgust.

‘Nice! Is that a good enough reason to marry someone you don’t know, just because they’re nice? It sounds to me like this Mr Dolby is merely looking for a replacement mother for his children, but I’ll tell you now, it won’t be me! When and if I ever marry it will be because I love the person, not because Grandfather has ordered it!’

‘Oh, darling, I’m so sorry.’ Her mother was openly crying now and Holly’s mood softened slightly. She’d lost count of the times she’d seen her grandfather make her mother cry with his harsh words and often wondered why she allowed him to be so hard on her. It was as if he had some sort of a hold over her and she was afraid of him.

‘Look … I’ll go through with this farce and meet him for your sake,’ Holly reluctantly agreed. ‘But I warn you, if I don’t like him, nothing will induce me to see him again, let alone marry him!’

Her mother nodded helplessly. ‘In that case we must look in your wardrobe and decide what you should wear. You’ll want to look your best.’

‘I will not!’ Holly disagreed with a glare. ‘Why should I dress myself up like a dog’s dinner for a stranger? He’ll take me as I am or lump it!’

‘All right, dear, whatever you say.’ Afraid to say another word, her mother turned and quietly scuttled from the room like a frightened mouse. Crossing to the cheval mirror that stood to one side of the four-poster bed, Holly stared at her reflection. A serious young woman with unruly long, blonde curly hair and periwinkle-blue eyes that were fringed with thick, fair lashes stared solemnly back at her. It was almost as if she was staring at a younger version of her mother, for they had the same fair hair and eyes. Holly was trying to see herself as Walter Dolby might see her and she supposed that she was reasonably attractive, although she would never term herself as beautiful. She was slightly too tall and slender for a girl and while her complexion was clear she considered her mouth to be a little too wide and her nose too snub. Yet another tap on the door interrupted her thoughts and Ivy appeared, looking worried.