The same pitiful fear-stricken cries went on throughout the night until, unable to face the terror of his nightmares, Luke slipped into a deep state of unconsciousness.

Kerensa slept for an hour as dawn approached but only from sheer exhaustion. She awoke to find Oliver gazing out of the window. His stance was strained and she was afraid he wanted to go away again.

‘Oliver!’

She rushed to him and swung him round. He wrapped her in his arms, crushing her to his body. He read her thoughts and kissed her so tenderly she was left in no doubt that her fears were groundless.

‘You can trust me, my sweet precious love,’ he said, his voice low and husky. ‘You have so much to forgive me for, but I swear you can trust me, please believe me.’

‘I know, I know,’ she choked into his broad chest. ‘Luke’s accident has unnerved me, that’s all.’

He gently pulled her head back to look up at him. ‘Are you sure of that, Kerensa?’

She nodded, and the hungry demand of his mouth brought an immediate response. With reluctance they pulled apart for they could not stay long from their son’s bedside. They whispered, heads together, as they watched over him.

Oliver said, ‘When I talked to Kane about the accident he said Luke fell from his pony and landed on a slab of granite. As far as Kane knows there is no reason for Luke to be afraid like this. Something must have happened afterwards.’

Kerensa shuddered and tenderly stroked Luke’s hot face.

‘Something frightened the poor little soul,’ Oliver went on. ‘I can’t get those awful words of his out of my mind – I saw… I saw…’ He sighed. ‘I know it will distress Kane, but I’ll have to ask him to show me the scene of the accident and have a good look round out there.’

Daylight flooded into the bedroom on a sudden shaft of the rising sun, illuminating the little boy’s bandages with an eerie glow.

‘Will you be all right with Luke while I’m gone, my love?’ Oliver said, his voice aching. ‘Polly will sit with you. I’ll be as quick as I can.’

‘I’ll manage,’ Kerensa said, wishing he did not have to go but seeing the sense of it. ‘Poor Kane, I’ll go to him before you leave.’

Kane hated the thought of going back yet again to that granite boulder stained with his brother’s blood but he was glad to be doing something useful instead of aimlessly waiting about. Oliver kept him chatting, hoping to alleviate his tortured feelings of guilt and put them more appropriately on his own shoulders. He reminded Kane that his single-minded brother, who sought to be disobedient so often, was bound to have had an accident sooner or later.