‘Just like that, my dear.’ Danny squeezed his daughter’s hand tightly before speaking to his father. ‘We should be on our way, Father, as the day’s doing well to hold the rain back.’ He looked up at the grey sky and at his father standing at the grave’s edge, looking down upon the coffin of the one he loved.

‘Aye, if you say so, lad. Folk have said that they’ll see me back at Windfell, so I suppose I’ll have to leave her here. You know we have barely ever been apart since the day we married. It is going to be hard to live without her.’ Archie leaned on his stick and wiped a tear from his eye, before walking stiffly away from the grave.

‘Here, take my arm, Grandpapa.’ Rosie left her father’s arm and linked her arm through her grandfather’s as she smiled with affection at him.

‘You are the image of your grandmother – who you were named after, lass. You’ve just the same looks and ways. You remind me of her every time I look at you. Your father’s mother was sweetness itself and I loved her just as much as my Lottie, but somehow Lottie’s light shone brighter, and I was attracted to her like a moth caught around a flame. So she was waiting on me when your grandmother died, and that’s how it is. I’ve loved and I’ve lost two good women in my life. The world can be hard sometimes.’ Archie stopped for a minute and caught his breath, thinking back to his first wife, Rosie.

‘But you’ve still got all of us, Gramps. You’ve Aunt Isabelle and Uncle James and all my cousins – we will all look after you.’ Rosie waited patiently as the elderly man climbed into the carriage to take him home.

‘Aye, but you forget, they are not my flesh and blood, not like your father. He’s my true son.’ Archie paused for a minute. ‘Danny, I need to speak to you in the morning, in the study on your own – there’s something I need to ask.’ Archie looked across at his son as the carriage rocked into action.

‘Ask me now, Father.’ Danny looked worried, wondering what his father wanted with him. ‘Nobody can hear us.’