Maddy knew that she was being told something very important. She knew she had to tread carefully. ‘Doesn’t she mind you being unfaithful to her? Is that part of the game?’

To her surprise, Drew laughed. ‘I don’t play games – and since you ask, I’ve never been unfaithful to Caroline.’

Maddy looked down at the carpet. She didn’t believe him. ‘I’m sorry. You’re right. This is none of my business. Look, I ought to be going.’

Drew looked at his watch. ‘You’ve still got fifteen minutes of your lunch break. I wish we’d never had this conversation. I want to go back to where we were.’

So do I, thought Maddy sadly. She didn’t want to leave him, but she couldn’t stay in this room when she wanted him so badly. ‘Would you show me around the stables?’

‘Now? Are you sure? It’s still chucking down.’

A cold shower of biting English rain might just dampen the lust that had risen hotly inside her. She nodded. Drew gave a puzzled grin. ‘Very well. I’ll fetch my coat.’

The horses looked sleek and snug and well cared for. Drew had nicknames for each of them and they whickered with pleasure as he approached. The stable lads scuttled in and out of boxes, grinning at him and greeting Maddy. The local boys were Suzy’s friends and seemed to be completely at ease with Drew. Peapods was a very happy yard.

‘Do you ride?’

They’d paused at the end of the cobbled stable block and were sheltering from the gusting rain beneath the clock arch.

‘No. I don’t think there’s a Clydesdale big enough.’

‘Don’t fish for compliments. I’m not going to tell you what effect your curves have on me. Would you like to learn? To ride, I mean?’

‘Oh, I can ride. It’s just that I haven’t for so long. And no one in Milton St John is going to risk me crippling one of their expensive babies.’

‘Well, if you ever change your mind, I’ve got a horse that would suit you. Solomon. I brought him over with me. Would you like to?’

‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘very much. But on a warm summer’s day – I’m a fair-weather horsewoman.’

‘OK, it’s a date.’ Drew squinted at the ceaseless rain. ‘I don’t think I’ve missed a day’s riding – apart from the compulsory side-lining when my bones were broken of course – since I’ve been old enough to walk.’

‘Were you born in Jersey?’

‘Yeah. My father went over to the island from County Mayo to work. He met my mother, who was an islander, when he was taken on for the potato harvest on her parents’ farm. They inherited it and added the stables.’

‘And did you inherit it from them?’ Maddy wanted to know everything about him.

He nodded. His eyes were sad. ‘My mother died five years ago. She had Motor Neurone Disease. It was appalling.’ He paused and looked at Maddy. ‘No one should be forced to suffer that sort of torture. She died trapped in her own body. She was only fifty-three.’