Molly stood there, wringing her gloved hands. An unpleasant thought about why she was here occurred to him. He simply stood, while Father and Gabriel shuffled behind him, straining to see.

‘I wanted to see you,’ she said.

Neither a surprise nor welcome. Daniel gestured for her to step out with him; this was not a conversation he wanted witnessed. They walked across the field as the low strip of sunlight began to bleed into the sky. At last spring had fully arrived, warming the air and softening the tasks that filled his days.

‘Are you well?’ he asked. Awkward now, away from the festivities.

‘Come now, Daniel, don’t tease. You must know why I’m here.’

He stopped and looked at her, lifting his shoulders slightly.

‘You know the tradition.’ She tipped her head so that the straw hat hid her eyes. ‘May Queen chooses a boy.’

‘Yesterday.’

‘What?’

‘The day after May Day, May Queen chooses someone to court, but that was yesterday.’

‘I came yesterday, I couldn’t find you. Is that really all you have to say?’ she asked.

Her eyes were large, she bit her thumbnail through her glove, and Daniel could not help but be moved by her uncertainty. Behind her, the trees in the orchard were sprinkled with white blossom.

‘No, of course,’ he said. ‘I just didn’t think you would choose me.’

‘Well, I do.’ She looked up at him. ‘You’re happy, aren’t you?’

‘I’m – grateful for the compliment, but I really think you should choose again. Someone better, someone – else.’

She laughed, stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. ‘That’s exactly why you’re the right choice,’ she said. ‘I have to go now, I must get to church, and so must you. I will tell my father afterwards.’

And she was gone, running with one hand holding up her petticoat and the other holding down her hat, glancing once to smile at him over her shoulder. Daniel stood as the jay began to sing. His world had turned about and he had no idea how.

Father and Gabriel hurried out of the farmhouse as soon as Molly left, an enthusiasm for church never before seen in either.

‘So,’ Gabriel said, shouting over the distance between them, ‘what did the May Queen want with you?’

The teasing tone of voice was at odds with the narrow-eyed suspicion his face wore. Father on the other hand battled to control a smirk.

‘Oh she, ah, she just wanted to ask me about – about—’

The blush that poured over Daniel’s face was answer enough.

Gabriel snorted. ‘She’s an eye on the farm, then. Why else would that pretty thing choose you for courting?’

Daniel shook his head. ‘I have no idea.’

Father cleared his throat. ‘Are you away to settle your mam, Gabriel?’

‘Already done.’

‘You’re a good son.’