In spite of himself – and his wet shirt – Ray laughed. He was still laughing when he leapt up out of his seat to slap Bill on the back. Bill’s beer had gone down the wrong way and he was doubled up and coughing hard.

Ray whacked him once, twice and then three times, for luck. ‘No, you daft sod,’ he said into Bill’s ear, when the spluttering finally stopped. ‘Her lost nicker! The pound note!’

It was funny though, he had to admit. They laughed with abandon then, not caring when everyone in the pub turned to look. When Maggie and Charity twisted round on their bar stools, Ray raised his pint to them and the girls raised their glasses back. Maggie’s was almost empty, he noticed. He stood up. He’d have to do something about that.

Chapter 36

The following Thursday evening, the girls walked briskly up from the Hall, shining their torches ahead of them on the gravelled drive. Charity wheeled her bicycle with one hand and held her torch in the other.

It was chilly and their breath made plumes like smoke in the air.

When they arrived at the end of the drive, the gatehouse was silent and dark, as though no one was at home. Maggie felt deflated. She’d been so excited about seeing Jack again.

She knocked three times on the door and they were on the verge of giving up and heading down to the pub in the village instead, when the door swung open.

Jack stood in front of them, looking tall and elegant, without a tie and, finally, without his sling. His shirt was open at the neck. He seemed a little out of breath.

‘Surprise!’ Maggie said, sounding more confident than she felt.

Was that a look of disappointment, flashing across his face? Maggie felt like she could cry. And in front of Charity, too. It was too bad.

‘Is this all right?’ Maggie asked. ‘You did say …’

But then her doubts vanished. Jack’s blue eyes sparkled and his face lit up with a delighted grin.

‘Poppy!’ he cried. ‘This is too much! A dream! Is it really you?’ He stood back and raised a hand, as though blinded by her beauty. ‘So, what’s the occasion?’

Her heart fell again. She tried to smile. ‘What? No, there is none. You said to come for a drink and bring a friend, so here we are! This is Charity Richmond.’

Maggie watched his face for any unwelcome reaction but it didn’t change. He nodded politely at Charity and shook her hand. ‘Delighted. Any friend of Poppy’s and all that. Do come on in out of the cold. I’m celebrating my fixed wrist! We can make a little party of it.’