‘Well, you don’t have to worry about Archie; he’s just content up at Crummock. You know he was never one for finery, and he’d be the first one to come to your aid if he thought you needed him. He doesn’t visit much because he knows you are all busy. Besides, he’s better with sheep than folk, as he tends to say what he thinks nowadays and doesn’t realize the consequences.’ Harriet smiled. ‘As for the rest, things are bound to get better. It’s just been a bad year so far, so let’s hope 1914 will put an end to our run of bad luck.’

‘I still can’t believe that James cheated on me. I look at him and sometimes I want to slap his face. And what’s more, if Madge wasn’t already dead, I think I’d want to murder her, for all the hurt she has caused. To think it was going on under my very nose; they were probably touching each other in here.’ Isabelle looked around her and started to sob.

‘It’s not worth tears, Isabelle. She’s gone and James is back with you. Just make sure he doesn’t wander again. Stop dwelling on it, and welcome him back into your bed – it’s what we women have to do.’ Harriet breathed in deeply and looked across at Isabelle, who lifted her head and looked at her.

‘But you know nothing about how it feels, to be hurt by someone you love. Danny will never have looked at another woman since he married you. You’ve no idea of the pain Madge has caused,’ she sobbed.

Harriet hesitated. ‘No, Danny’s always been faithful since we married. But there was a time, just before we were to marry, that I found out he was not being faithful to me, and I never will forget the pain it caused me.’ Harriet stopped sewing and breathed in deeply. ‘Like you, I didn’t know what to do. I loved him so much and didn’t want to lose him. I couldn’t compete with Amy Brown – she was the talk of the Dales and the sweetheart of all the farm lads, with her easy ways. So I closed my eyes and ears and carried on with the charade of our courtship, in the hope that Danny would see sense some day.’

‘You knew about Amy Brown?’ Isabelle lifted her head and wiped her face. ‘And you still married him.’

‘Oh, so you knew, too? I should have guessed, for he always confided in you.’ Harriet looked at Isabelle. ‘Yes, I knew she was giving him something that I wouldn’t until we were married, but I still married him. Unlike Amy, I had my morals. And I knew that was why she was adored by half the male population.’