‘I always did want this room to be decorated with this wallpaper, but Mama would never hear of it. The pattern is called “Strawberry Thief” and is by William Morris. It is so pretty and suits this room so well. What do you think, Harriet? You always had a good eye for style.’ Isabelle smiled and sat down next to her sister-in-law.

‘Yes, it is very you, and it suits the parlour well. Who else would think of bringing nature into a living space, for us all to enjoy.’ Harriet looked around at the patterned wallpaper, depicting birds feasting on strawberries, and remembered the wedding dress that Isabelle had designed for her, after meeting the artist William Morris. They had been so close then, enjoying one another’s company and sharing their secrets together.

‘It’s a bit too posh for the walls at Crummock. So don’t be getting any ideas, our lass.’ Danny looked around him.

‘It cost an arm and a leg. I told Isabelle we could do without it, but she would insist. She likes to get her own way, don’t you, my dear?’ James stood behind his wife and ran his hand along her shoulders.

‘Crummock’s walls are practical, and are fine just whitewashed each year, so you needn’t fret, Danny.’ Harriet looked up as Thomson entered with tea for four, and the conversation stopped until he left.

‘Harriet, how are you keeping? I sometimes worry about you, for we seem to have drifted apart and I can’t ignore that any longer. We were once so close.’ Isabelle reached out for her sister-in-law’s hand and squeezed it tightly, after sipping her tea. ‘You will have heard that we nearly lost our Luke, when he fell into the river? It was then that I realized how hard and uncaring I had been over the loss of your twins. I hope you can forgive me? It’s just that until you have children of your own, you don’t realize how precious they are to you. You must have been heartbroken, as I know you both were, but I was too wrapped up in the business and was blinkered to your loss.’

Isabelle’s eyes filled with tears as she looked at Harriet, whose head was bowed as she remembered the pain Isabelle had caused when she had flippantly remarked that infant death was something nearly every family endured. It was true and it was part of the times they lived in, but to lose two boys cruelly in one afternoon, without their mother by their side, was a pain of Harriet’s that Isabelle would have to live with all her life, and something she hoped she would never have to experience herself. Now, all these years later, she realized how callous she had been, and she wanted to sweep any misunderstandings to one side.