Men let us down, don’t they? I know that only too well. They make promises, they give and they take away. But it’s usually a woman behind the betrayal, a woman who leads them on, leads them astray, makes them do it.

I hate you, Madalyn Cardew. All the years I have been without him I didn’t know who to hate, and now I do. Slowly, drip by drip, I will make you suffer. You have to pay for what you’ve done.

Chapter 20

MADI

Madi stood on the step and watched the villagers piling out of the lane that led down from the church and turning towards the cottage, heading for the hall beyond. She had thought about joining them for the service, perhaps sitting quietly at the back, but she’d chickened out at the last minute. Religion never had been her thing. Now she pulled the front door shut behind her and hurried down the path to catch up with Faith and Patty as they rushed past, ahead of the pack.

‘Oh, Madi, how lovely! Are you coming to the Shelling Show? We can always use an extra pair of hands.’

‘Leave the poor woman alone,’ Stuart chipped in, coming along behind them. ‘She’s here as a visitor, a guest, not to help you two make the tea!’

‘Oh, I don’t mind at all. I’m usually happier with something to do.’

‘And how’s our little Flo this morning? I keep meaning to drop by with a bit of fish or something.’ Faith slowed her pace a fraction and put a hand on Madi’s arm. ‘I do feel bad that we’ve left you to take care of her. I had half a mind to ring Prue and tell her to come home. All this running-off nonsense makes no sense at all. And Flo is her cat …’

‘There’s no need, really. Flo is doing fine, and I don’t mind taking care of her. As I said, I like having something to do. And she’s company for me.’

‘Company? Feeling lonely, are you? We can’t have that,’ Patty said, pulling a packet of mints from her pocket and offering them round. ‘And if it’s something to do that you’re after, I’m sure we can think of all manner of things to entertain you and keep you out of mischief, can’t we, Faith?’

They had reached the door to the village hall and Faith was too busy fumbling in her bag for the keys to reply.

‘Take no notice.’ It was Tom, already waiting outside with a bottle of wine tucked under his arm and a square cake tin in his hands. He had clearly dodged the church service too. ‘They mean well,’ he whispered, following the women inside. ‘They’ll have you manning the library or joining the choir if you’re not careful.’

‘Oh, God. I have a friend – well, a neighbour really – who works in a library. Betty. The way she talks about it, you’d think it was the most exciting job in the world!’