Hezekiah smiled. It had been a very good day. ‘Have no fears, my crew are all safely on board to a man. Drink up, my friend, and put it out of your mind. It will be good to have the company of a gentleman on the journey, but I can delay leaving port if you’d like time to reconsider your plans.’

‘No!’ Oliver said adamantly. ‘My mind is made up.’

‘Then let us raise our glasses to the Channel Islands.’

Oliver looked blankly into his glass. ‘Yes… but that won’t be the end of my journey.’

Chapter 21

Nothing could thaw the deathly coldness Kerensa felt inside. She pushed Charity away without realising she had done it, unaware of the dog’s hurt looks before it moved away and flopped down in front of the hearth. She crumpled the dampened folds of her cloak between tensed hands. She sighed over and over. She flicked the tips of her nails together, making tiny clicking sounds that set Clem’s nerves on edge and made Charity blink every time.

Clem watched her anxiously. ‘Kerensa, is there anything I can get you?’ he asked gently, hoping to counter her vacant stare. ‘Shall I make up a fire?’

It was ages before she answered and he was about to repeat the question when she whispered, ‘No, thank you, Clem. You’ve got a tidy blaze going already. Won’t people wonder why there’s smoke coming out of the chimney of this house?’

‘No, the neighbours are used to me calling here when Mr Barbary goes on a long visit to Lamorna. I’ve been doing this for years, keeping an eye on the place for the old boy. I usually light the fire if it’s been cold and damp for several days to keep the house aired out.’

‘Where did you meet him, this Mr Barbary?’

‘At the Bible classes. When he said he was afraid of having a break-in with the house standing empty for long periods at a time, I offered to look in on it from time to time. You know me, my little sweet,’ he smiled, ‘if I get the chance to spend some time alone I take it. It’s even better with you here.’

‘It’s a nice little house,’ Kerensa moved her eyes round the four white-washed walls, ‘in reasonably good repair except for that creaking window.’ She settled her gaze on its small square panes. Raindrops were sliding down to merge with others and form links like strands of diamonds. ‘I take it Mr Barbary is comfortably off.’

‘Kerensa, my dearest love.’ Clem moved to her side on the settle. He took her hands from her lap, peeled off her gloves and rubbed her stiff fingers. ‘You have no real interest in who lives here or in what circumstances. What is it, what’s happened? You’re in a worse state than you were a couple of days ago.’