‘And as for forgiving you . . .’ She sighed. ‘I’ve had a lot of time to think and I realise now that what happened wasn’t all your fault. I knew when I lay with you that you were a married man and so I was as much to blame as you were – it wasn’t as if you forced me into our relationship. I also understand now why you sent me away when you found that I was having Charlotte. You were in an impossible position, so of course you had no choice when you discovered that Louisa was having a child too. As things have turned out you gave me the greatest gift of all when you got me with child so yes, I forgive you.’

‘Then knowing that I shall die a happy man.’ Barnaby wrapped his arms about her and she rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and feeling as if her own heart was breaking.

As she made her way home that night, she shivered in the mist that had floated in from the sea. Autumn was fast approaching and already the leaves on the trees were losing their colour and the evenings were cooler.

Back at The Crow’s Nest she found Mrs Jennings dozing in the chair at the side of the fire with Charlotte curled up asleep on her lap and her heart broke afresh as she looked down at her daughter. Charlotte adored her father; how would she cope if he never came home again? Socks scampered over to meet her and she bent to stroke his silky ears, pushing the thought away. Tomorrow would be soon enough to think about that, for now she just had to try and get through the night.

Once Mrs Jennings had gone after promising to be back bright and early in the morning, Amber got Charlotte settled in bed and sat downstairs thinking back over her visit to Barnaby. It was funny, now that she came to think of it, how determined she had been after having Charlotte that she would never get wed, and yet here she was, not only married but married to the child’s father, who had turned out to be the man she had grown to love. It was like something out of one of the penny romance novels her mother had liked to read when she could afford to, only in those they always had a happy ending, whereas her ending looked set to be far from it. It would be too cruel if she were to lose Barnaby now when she had only just realised how much he meant to her.