Jethro looked at the knackered horse and swore under his breath, as he unfastened the harness and led her into the stables. He knew it was partly the hot day that was to blame for Bess’s exhaustion, but the lad had no feeling when it came to animals. He should have insisted that Ethan go. After all, Ethan had only been fishing in the nearby Ribble, but Jethro hadn’t said so, as his son could be caught for poaching. But Ethan knew how to get the best out of a horse without breaking it, and he would have had sense to change horses at Skipton, with the day being so close and muggy.

‘Ethan, draw me some water – let’s cool Bess down. You pour and sponge her down with it over her withers, and then I’ll scrape it off, and we’ll repeat that until she’s cooled down. The main thing is to make sure that she doesn’t go into cramp.’

Ethan ran to the water trough outside the stables and watched as Isabelle and Luke entered the manor. Coming back with loaded buckets, he stood next to his father. ‘If I’d have brought the horse back like that, you’d have brayed me.’

‘That I would, lad. But Master Luke insisted that he went for his mother, and they’ve enough on their plates today. There’s a storm coming, in more ways than one. I can smell it on the air, and look at how those beech leaves are twisting and turning in a near-breathless sky – a sure sign that a storm is on its way. My father taught me that, when I was knee-high. Bess will soon cool when the storm comes, and hopefully she will be alright; unlike the mistress.’

Ethan glanced at his father. He knew better than to disbelieve him, but right now the day was as hot as the new oven in Windfell Manor. It was common knowledge that his father was part gypsy, and he was invariably right when it came to reading nature’s signs.

Isabelle plucked up her courage as she turned the brass door handle of Windfell’s front door, not knowing what to expect as she stepped into the hallway.

‘Thank heavens you are here, Miss Isabelle, your mother is failing fast,’ said Mazy, the housekeeper. ‘Dr Burrows was praying that you’d be here in time to say goodbye before she departs this earth. Thank heavens it is Dr Burrows who has attended. Your mother has always trusted him despite his age – he should be retired by now.’ Mazy was nearly in tears as she took Isabelle’s parasol, and tried to smile reassuringly at Luke as he followed his mother up the grand, winding staircase. She shook her head before disappearing below stairs, where all the rest of the staff at Windfell awaited the impending bad news.