He moved his hand behind her and lowered the blanket from her shoulders. She wore her hair in one long plait. He ran his hand down to its tip and wound it round and round his index finger then up and over his hand until the silky length was at the nape of her neck. With a gentle tug he tilted her head back and slid his other hand under her chin. His fingers were resting on the sides of her neck and he brushed her ear lobe tantalisingly with his thumb. Then with the hand gripping her hair he pulled her to him.

Rosie closed her eyes. She had never been kissed before and he gently coaxed her trembling lips apart with his. The kiss went on and on. She was overcome by a strange weakness and leaned into his body. When she felt she could no longer breathe and had no care if she ever did again, he moved his mouth away. Running a gentle finger along her lower lip he gave it several tiny tender kisses that made her body tingle and her head wonderfully dizzy.

She let out a low moan. He lowered her down on the bench and put cushions under her head.

Sometimes when Oliver wanted to make love desperately his body gave a tremendous shudder. In her innocence Rosie misread it for him feeling cold and she rubbed her hands in circular movements over his back and arms to warm him. Encouraged by her stroking, he kissed her passionately and caressed her with his fingertips, years of practice and expertise enabling him to know what Rosie liked and when to proceed. He had not wanted another woman since his wedding night, not even in the early days of his marriage before he had fallen in love with his seventeen-year-old bride. But now he uncompromisingly wanted Rosie Trenchard.

Without her realising it he had released her stays, pushed his hand inside the opening of her dress and rested it on her bare stomach. She pulled her muscles in so tightly he felt the edges of her rib cage and after a few moments he looked at her to see if she was breathing.

Rosie’s hair had fallen loose from her plait, her face was flushed. She looked like a little girl awakened from a long dreamy slumber. A little girl, an innocent, trusting little girl – and it hit Oliver with an awesome force that he was about to utterly destroy that innocence. To embark on an affair with her would almost certainly forbid her making a good marriage, would destroy her faith in her superiors and lay her future in ruins.