She glowed under his approbation, but shook her head. ‘Not as far as I know. Dad’s addicted to betting shops but I think that’s as close as anyone in our family got to the turf. I learned to ride when I was a kid. My parents had a deal with the people who kept the local stables – they sent people to our bed and breakfast and Mum and Dad pointed guests in their direction. They gave me, and later Suzy, free riding lessons.’

‘Obviously successfully. Why on earth didn’t you keep it up?’

‘Other things got in the way, I suppose.’ Things like puppy fat that stayed put. There was something sad, Maddy had always thought, about a lumpy teenager jolting about on the back of an elderly pony. ‘And then I went to university.’

‘And?’ Drew’s eyebrows rose quizzically.

‘Another disastrous area of my life. I went to Brighton to read Humanities. I spent most of my time sitting on the cliffs at Peacehaven watching the sea and dreaming. I scraped a third.’

‘That’s very impressive to a boy who left his secondary education with dismal qualifications and dire warnings of nothing ahead but impending failure.’

‘Still, you proved your doubters wrong. I didn’t.’

‘Oh, I think you did, Maddy.’ Drew leaned across from Dock of the Bay and brushed his lips against her cheek. ‘In fact, I know you did.’ And wheeling the horse round, he kicked with his heels and sped towards the brow of the hill.

Maddy sat on the sleepy Solomon and watched in admiration as Drew, crouched low over Dock of the Bay’s neck, became one with the animal in a flowing movement of controlled power. Why on earth hadn’t Caroline persuaded him to continue riding? Maybe there had been broken bones, but all jockeys accepted them as part of the job. Drew had sacrificed the chance to become a professional for Caroline. He must have loved her very much.

All her earlier confidence ebbing away, Maddy adjusted her toes in the stirrups and kicked Solomon into life. There was nothing but the roaring wind in her ears and the rhythmic thunder of the hoofs on the softness of the peaty turf. Solomon was nowhere near as fast as Dock of the Bay, but the gallop was steady. Maddy felt as light as thistledown. The sky, the trees, the whole world, were kaleidoscoped into a dizzying landscape that effortlessly carried her with it. She pulled up just as Drew wheeled Dock of the Bay round and was hacking him back along the track. Solomon was hardly sweating. Maddy was exhausted.

‘I’m very out of condition …’ The ride had been exhilarating and she hadn’t fallen off. ‘That was, oh …’

‘Orgasmic?’