‘The same to you,’ Barnaby responded, although it certainly didn’t feel like the best start to it. ‘And of course, please feel free to summon the doctor whenever you deem it necessary.’ Barnaby stared down at the little boy. He had always dreamt of having a son, a boy he could teach to play football and swim and ride a pony, but this poor little scrap was so weak he struggled to even feed. ‘I shall be at the shipyard for the next few days but perhaps you could let me know what the doctor says when I return home?’

She nodded and not wishing to disturb the babies while they were resting, he left the room. Soon after he mounted his horse and set off for the harbour. A couple of his whaling ships were late returning and he wanted to see if there had been any news on them. The wives of the fishermen were becoming concerned and only the night before they had carried lanterns up to the Abbey where they could watch for them returning. Up until now he hadn’t been too worried – the whaling ships were often late in, but now he was becoming uneasy.

The whaling ships were at the most risk for they travelled as far as Greenland in appalling conditions and some were lost and never returned when they were trapped by sea ice or crushed. Those that did return would bring their catches of whales, polar bears and seals back and there would be furious activity in the large boiler houses along the quay where the whale blubber was turned into oil. The whale bones would then be cleaned and sold to make women’s corsets, so there was little waste and much higher pay for the men who had risked their lives to catch them.

Barnaby had known men to lose fingers and toes through frostbite and many had been washed overboard in storms at sea. But the boats that were late at present were concerning him more than most because he knew that Amber Ainsley’s father and two of her brothers had sailed in one of them to earn a little extra money for Christmas. This was foremost in his mind as he reached the hill that led down to the harbour. Here he reined his horse in and stared out across the great expanse of sea, looking out for the tall masts of the ships from which the sailors would watch for icebergs or whales in the freezing Arctic oceans. But he was disappointed. So he carefully guided his horse down the frosty hill.