Matthias paused, gazing down at his hands where the fingertips were pressed together before looking up and round the room, his face serious. ‘This passage teaches us that every time someone laughs at us, shows us their hatred of our faith, or simply chooses to ignore the Good News we want to share with them, we are reminded that we are indeed called as lambs to be sent out among the wolves of this world…’

Clem was not listening to Matthias. He never listened to anyone for long, whether it was his wife, his father, Kenver his crippled brother or even Rosie, his much loved sister. While he worked, he worked hard, his mind fully employed on the task in hand. Other times, with only Charity his dog for company, he wandered off to be alone, to immerse himself in his thoughts of the woman he believed should rightfully be his.

He was thinking of the times they had secretly held hands under her shawl in this very room. Looking about, his eyes fell on Rosina Blake. Clem hated Peter Blake for the same reason Oliver Pengarron did, but he held a grudging regard for Blake for allowing his wife to attend these classes – as she had done in the days when she’d worked as a bal-maiden, sorting ore at the Wheal Ember. Why couldn’t his damned high and mighty lordship allow Kerensa the same privilege?

Rosina noticed him looking at her and smiled back. Clem’s face stayed rigid. He rarely smiled. Rosina returned her attention to Matthias’s words, her natural beauty shining through as it always did on her peaceful face. ‘A woman whose beauty comes from being at peace with God and hence with herself and the world,’ Matthias often remarked to him. Clem sometimes wondered if Matthias regretted not asking Rosina to become his wife when he had the opportunity, before she fell in love with Peter Blake.