‘Me a boy?’ came the scornful reaction. ‘I’m only a few years younger than you are.’

‘Well, you know what I mean,’ she said, handing him the glass of strong-smelling green medicine that Beatrice maintained would restore his vigour. ‘I keep forgetting you’re quite grown up. Now prove it by drinking this straight down without your usual fuss.’

Jack rose to the challenge and drank the bitter liquid in two courageous gulps then without taking a breath snatched up the goat’s milk at once to wash away the taste.

‘Ugh!’ he complained. ‘I sometimes wonder if Beatrice is trying to kill me off.’

Kerensa put a finger to her lips. ‘Shh, don’t let Beatrice hear you say such a thing or we’ll never hear the last of it. She takes great trouble to mix up her herbs and other ingredients to heal the many parts of your body needing treatment.’

‘Sorry,’ Jack said contritely, ‘but it tastes some awful, worse ’n the stuff that doctor man gave me at Trecath-en Farm.’

‘Dr Crebo takes Beatrice’s mixture for gout himself. Says it works better than anything an apothecary could make up for him.’ Kerensa patted Jack’s hand and gave him a maternal smile. ‘You won’t be like this for much longer. As soon as you can keep your balance you’ll be able to do light jobs around the stables and by the end of the summer you’ll be almost back to normal. It could have been worse, we thought at first you’d been blinded.’

‘I know, but I just aren’t used to lying about all the time,’ Jack said, scratching a troublesome spot above Bob’s nose. ‘I want to see for myself that Kernick and Meryn are really all right. I want to check ’em over ’n’ make sure they footpads did ’em no harm.’

Kerensa sat at the table and pulled at a fold in her skirt. She was still nervous from the attack but it helped to talk about it with Jack who’d shared the same terrifying experience. ‘They’re fine, according to Clem. He gave them both a good look over when Mr Harrt asked him to bring them back from Penzance market.’

‘Begging your pardon, m’lady, Clem’s a good farmer but he don’t know nothing much about horseflesh.’

‘Michael and Conan are quite able to take care of them, Jack, but if you’re so concerned, would you like me to ask Adam Renfree to take a look at them? He’s been in charge of the stud for over thirty years, he should be able to set your mind at rest.’

‘If you would, I’d ’preciate that.’ Jack leaned gingerly towards the table and flicked a fly off the rim of one of the glasses. ‘You’d think they men would have had more sense than trying to sell the ponies so close to home.’