The deer stood perfectly still for a moment, frozen in shock, before coming abruptly to its senses. It fled to the safety of the woods as the murky yellow light of two headlamps emerged through the frozen fog. Tom sighed, and Lou looked around to see a crease between his eyebrows. She followed his stony gaze to the post-box red, open-topped car screeching to a stop in front of the house. The driver’s door flew open, and a large man squeezed his bulk from the car. In a full-length, brown fur coat, driving helmet and a red scarf around his neck, he looked just like Toad of Toad Hall. Lou was about to share the observation with Tom, but the dark look in his eyes told her he was in no mood for jokes.

‘It’s my cousins, George and Emma Caxton,’ he said sullenly. ‘We should go and greet them.’

Outside, Lou waited with Tom beneath the portico while Bainbridge, William, and the second footman unloaded luggage from the boot. Bainbridge opened the passenger door, but the driver blocked Lou’s view of his travelling companion.

‘George,’ Tom said flatly, offering his hand to the man.

‘Mandeville.’

The two cousins shook hands. It was unlike any greeting Lou had ever witnessed. Each man gripped the other’s hand so that their tendons stood proud. It was more a test of strength than a friendly welcome.

She had been right to think that Tom disliked his cousin after all. And judging by George Caxton’s sneer, the feeling was mutual.

Pulling his hand free, Tom said, ‘This is our guest, Miss Arnold. Miss Arnold, this is my cousin, George Caxton.’ He spoke flatly, no trace of warmth.

With eyes set slightly too far apart, George Caxton looked Lou up and down. Taking her hand, he kissed it, and she had to fight the urge to wipe it immediately on her skirt.

‘Actually, it’s The Honourable George Caxton,’ he said. ‘And don’t let Mandeville mislead you. It was our ancestors, centuries ago, who were cousins, not us. These things are important to establish upfront, don’t you think? Avoids misunderstandings later on.’

Caxton spoke as though Tom’s presence was of as little significance to him as that of the staff waiting to do his bidding. Remembering old Albert’s warning about Charlotte’s marriage to this man, Lou took a step closer to Tom. But George was too busy lambasting William for his handling of one of the trunks to notice her intended slight. He stormed back to the car and in doing so, revealed his travelling companion to be a young woman in a fur coat of immaculate white. A wide-brimmed hat covered her dark hair and was held in place by a sheer scarf. Her complexion was pale, her features fine, but it was her lips that Lou found herself transfixed by. Enhanced by scarlet lipstick, they were so full and so plump that Lou couldn’t imagine any man not wanting to kiss them, or wanting to stop once he had begun.