‘I think you’d better come, sir,’ she told him. ‘The mistress is in a lot of pain and no amount of laudanum seems to be helping.’ She then quietly closed the door and hurried back to her mistress as Barnaby dragged his robe on and headed along the landing in his house slippers.

Louisa was rolling around the bed clutching her stomach but the second he entered the room her eyes narrowed to slits.

‘Come to see what you’ve brought me to, have you?’ Her voice dripped hate. ‘Well, I hope you’re happy now!’

He wrung his hands together feeling helpless as he looked at the pitiful wreck she had become. Her face was ravaged with pain and there was no longer any trace of the beauty she had once been. Her face seemed to have shrunk and there were huge purple circles beneath her eyes. Even her hair, which had once been her crowning glory, was now limp and sparse.

‘I’ll send for the doctor,’ he told her but she growled deep in her throat.

‘And what good can he do? No, what I want you to do is send for my mother and father. I want them both here.’

Barnaby dreaded another visit from his in-laws, especially so soon after the last one, but he didn’t hesitate. ‘Of course, I’ll write to them first thing in the morning.’

‘No!’ Her voice cracked like a whip. ‘I want you to send someone to fetch them or go yourself. Now!’

‘But my dear. It isn’t even light yet. Can’t I set off later?’

‘No, I want them here now!’

With a sigh, he glanced towards Ruffy, who was standing silently with tears glistening on her lashes and then nodded. ‘Very well, I’ll go and get ready immediately.’

Mrs Ruffin followed him out onto the landing and once the door of the bedroom had closed behind them, she confided, ‘I fear she doesn’t have much longer. She’s eating practically nothing now and the pain is constant, poor lamb.’

‘I see.’ He swiped a lock of dishevelled blond hair from his forehead and nodded. ‘Very well, I’ll do as she asks and return with her parents as soon as I’m able to.’

When he entered the stables dressed in his jodhpurs and a warm overcoat, he found them in darkness and most of the horses asleep in their stalls. The grooms were clearly all in bed and rather than disturb them Barnaby saddled his stallion himself. He was aware that it would be a treacherous journey in the dark across the moors but what choice did he have?

Eventually he was ready and swinging himself up onto the saddle he clicked his tongue to encourage Star, his pure black thoroughbred, across the cobbled yard, then once they were clear of it and on the drive, he urged him into a gallop and they were off.

*