‘Rosie! Rosie, come here and meet Daniel.’

Rosie breathed in deeply. She looked at her cousins and didn’t say a word as she walked back up the drive to her father and the tall blond-haired young man she now knew to be her brother.

‘Rosie, this is Daniel. Although he has a different mother from you, he is my son and your brother, and I want you to make him welcome in our home.’ Danny put his arm around his precious daughter and looked at Daniel.

‘Hello, Rosie. I’ve always wanted a sister, and now I have one.’ Daniel smiled at her.

Rosie looked up at his open face. He was the image of her father – a father she loved so dearly. She wanted to vent her wrath on him for being unfaithful to her mother, and then she remembered her own love and passion for Ethan. She could have been like Daniel’s mother: alone and pregnant and desperate to find a father for her child, if she had not lost her baby. She thought of the fear and the scandal there could have been. She bowed her head and then lifted it to look at her new brother.

‘Welcome to our family, Daniel. A big brother for Christmas – now that’s different. Better than any present I could have wished for. Happy Christmas, Brother.’ She linked her arm through Daniel’s and her father’s, and looked towards where Ethan stood waiting with the horses to take them home. Ethan was the main love of her life, the one whose love made her strong. Unlike her father, she would marry her wild rover, regardless of the scandal. She knew that her Christmas wish would come true.

30

30

‘Harriet, I love only you, and have done since the day we met. My fling with Amy Brown was just that. We both were young and stupid. I knew you were the only one for me, but she was just too much of a temptation.’ Danny lay next to his wife as she sobbed, with the bedclothes pulled up around her.

‘But you have a son, and you have brought him home! How am I supposed to feel and deal with that?’ Harriet turned and faced her husband with tear-filled eyes.

‘I’d hope you would deal with it like you always do with our children. I know he’s not yours, but he is mine. My son, who I’ve just found. And by the sound of it, he has had a very bad deal in life up until now.’ Danny sighed as he held his wife close to him.