‘Mmmm, maybe, ’tis a thought that’s passed through my mind. Don’t matter too much at the moment though, I have my mother and young’uns to care for.’ His expression changed, telling Kerensa there would be no more forthcoming, he had said all he was willing to say on his hopes and plans for the future. She had seen that look on Oliver’s face, when he wanted to keep something from worrying her, or felt the subject under discussion was not a woman’s concern. Oliver would not be moved and Bartholomew, of course, had no reason to be.

‘My father was a sailor, on a merchant ship,’ she said, trying without success to picture her father’s face. ‘Anyway, Bartholomew, you’ve got plenty of time yet to decide on your future. You’re how old now? Seventeen? Eighteen?’

‘Seventeen, nearly eighteen,’ he replied, ‘the same age as you were when Sir Oliver forced you to marry him.’

Kerensa’s mouth turned into a small circle of shock and she brought up her chin and set her eyes squarely on the young fisherman. ‘You would do well not to be outspoken and to exercise some tact,’ she retorted primly. ‘Your mother would not approve of some of the things you say.’

This brought forth a hearty laugh. ‘You’re right, she wouldn’t, no more than you do.’ He put his face close to hers and moved his dark head from side to side. ‘I bet Sir Oliver is much the same as me, and gets that look from you more often than not.’ He gazed into her eyes until her look of severity slowly melted into a smile and then she was laughing with him.

‘I suppose I ought to be used to you by now, Bartholomew Drannock.’

‘Things have turned out all right for you though, haven’t they?’ he asked seriously. ‘You are happy in your marriage?’

‘Yes, I am,’ she replied. ‘I have been very fortunate.’

‘It’s hard to believe you’re the mother of two children. You look far too young.’

‘Thank you again for the compliment, but I have three children, not two.’

‘You look on that other boy as your own, do you?’

‘Yes, of course,’ Kerensa said emphatically. ‘As far as we’re concerned, Kane is as much our child as Olivia and Luke are. He has every right to the Pengarron name.’

Bartholomew said thoughtfully, ‘He won’t inherit the title and estate though, will he?’

‘No, that will become Luke’s, but Kane will be well provided for, as will Olivia.’ Kerensa reached for her shoes and stockings, bringing Bob expectantly to his feet. ‘I ought to be going.’ She gave Bartholomew a look that conveyed it would be unacceptable for him to stay and watch her put them on.