‘It’s weird. You’ll be in exactly the same position as your mother was when she married your father. You’ll be the English wife of the heir to the Remer steelworks. And that may be quite complicating for you, Nancy. Especially as things are in Germany at the moment.’

Hearing a car approach, Nancy crossed to the window just in time to see Max’s MG sports car turn into the long drive. ‘It’s only Hitler who’s complicating things,’ she said, her straight eyebrows drawing together in a slight frown. ‘And Claus will find a way of ensuring the steelworks stay under Remer control without his having to continue being a party member.’

Lotti’s arched eyebrows rose. ‘The two of you have talked about this, then, have you?’

‘Not exactly. When we were last together, I was too busy getting him to fall in love with me to talk about the steelworks and the Nazis. We’ll be talking about things like that over the next few days, while he’s at Shuttleworth Hall. Max has just arrived, and by the look of it he hasn’t got a girlfriend with him, thank goodness. The last one he brought with him from London was a horror. A debutante who seemed to think Yorkshire was Outer Mongolia.’

If Lotti’s reaction had been oddly thoughtful when she had broken the news as to the change in her and Claus’s relationship, her mother’s reaction was even more of a surprise. In fact, it wasn’t a surprise at all. It was a shock.

‘But it’s unthinkable, Nancy, love!’ she said, putting down her cup so sharply that the tea slopped into the saucer. ‘An infatuation is one thing—I know you’ve always been infatuated with him. But for Claus to lead you on and to take advantage of your feelings…it’s almost beyond belief.’

‘He hasn’t led me on, Mother.’ Stupidly, her disappointment in her mother’s reaction to the news was so intense she felt tears burning her eyes. She blinked them away. ‘We’re in love with each other. He’s going to ask me to marry him and—‘

‘So he hasn’t asked you yet?’ Vicky’s relief was so overwhelming she couldn’t keep it from showing in her voice.

‘No, but he will.’ As yet she hadn’t told anyone of her secret hope that his Christmas present to her was going to be an engagement ring and now was clearly not the moment to do so. ‘I don’t understand why you’re reacting like this, Mother.’ She dug her nails into her palms, trying not to sound plaintive. ‘You like Claus. You’re just as fond of him as you are of Lotti and Ilse. It means our family will be even closer than ever and it means that the Remer steelworks will one day pass down to Father’s grandchildren, and that will mean a lot to him.’

Her mother sucked in her breath, her face paling.

‘And it means that you will become part of a heritage—the House of Remer steelworks—that I’ve tried for nearly twenty years to distance myself from,’ she said unsteadily. ‘What will you do, Nancy, if, as happened to me, you one day discover that the House of Remer is manufacturing armaments destined to be used against Britain?’