Charlotte was tearful too, although they guessed it was more because she couldn’t take Fancy with her than because she was about to leave her doting grandmother. She and the little dog had taken a great shine to each other and had been inseparable during their time there and now Charlotte didn’t want to be parted from her.

‘We’ll come and see Fancy again soon, sweet’eart,’ Amber promised as she tried to prise the child away. Eventually, she somehow managed to get her outside into the carriage.

‘Are you sure you’ll be all right here all on your own?’ Amber was concerned at the thought but Alice smiled.

‘I won’t be on me own,’ she pointed out stoically. ‘I’ve got little Fancy ’ere an’ Biddy to keep me company. Now have a safe journey an’ write to me often.’

Barnaby came to shake her hand. ‘Thank you so much for having me, Mrs Ainsley, and for allowing me to attend your brother’s wedding.’

Alice knew she should hate him after the way he’d treated her daughter and yet, after spending some time in his company, she’d actually grown to like him, especially when she saw how he doted on her granddaughter.

‘You just take care o’ my girls, now,’ she told him sternly and he nodded before hopping onto the driver’s seat and urging the horse on. Alice waved until they were out of sight before turning and going back into the house.

The mood on the journey home was much lighter than it had been on the way there and Amber felt as if she and Barnaby had reached some kind of a truce. She found that she could bring herself to at least be civil to him now and they chatted easily of this and that as the horse trotted along.

It was mid-afternoon when The Crow’s Nest came into view and the good mood immediately disappeared as they saw that the front door was swinging open.

‘Oh no, not again!’ Amber breathed as she stared in distress at the flowers she had lovingly planted in the front garden. It had been a blaze of hollyhocks, lupins, lavender, roses and peonies when they left, but now they had all been trampled and she dreaded to imagine what they would find inside.

Barnaby’s face set. ‘But I locked the damned door!’ he cursed as he led the horse round to the stable. ‘Stay here while I go and check there’s no one still inside.’

Charlotte was fast asleep in Amber’s arms and she watched the door fearfully until he remerged some minutes later, his face grave. ‘Whoever was here has made a right mess, so you’d best prepare yourself.’