He stretched round her to take the reins and Rosie felt the strong warmth of his muscular body. It swept a thrill through her and she was not displeased the motion of the horse’s movements caused her to sway often against him. A thought occurred to her. She said, ‘You called me Miss Trenchard. You were the first to ever call me that, in Trelynne Cove, after the wreck of the Amy Christabel. Do you remember, sir?’

‘I remember, Rosie,’ he smiled as she turned slightly to look at him. ‘You were a little girl then, the years since have been kind to you.’

Rosie looked rapidly away, her face aflame. Her heart leapt heavily in her chest. She didn’t know if it was permissible for an ordinary girl like herself to speak to a baronet unless he spoke first but she couldn’t help herself even though she was nervous. ‘I still have the locket Clem found for me. You told me it has a real diamond in it.’

‘So I did. You are old enough to wear it now.’

There was no impatient or haughty intonation in his voice so she carried on. ‘Well, that may be so, sir, but I don’t suppose I shall ever go anywhere grand enough for that.’

‘You can wear it on your wedding day, Rosie. Without doubt that occasion will not be too far in the future.’

Rosie looked down at the moving ground. ‘There’s no prospect of that at the moment.’

They had reached the farmyard and a flock of noisy geese hissed at them. Oliver dismounted and taking the basket, hat and shoe from Rosie he put them on the wall beside the kitchen where at least a dozen untamed cats dozed in the early evening sun. Two white pigs grunted in the sty, a variety of hens scratched in the earth, a few ducks loitered on a little muddy pool and a rough-looking billy goat tied to an old hawthorn tree was trying to reach and eat some of Alice’s washing.

‘The place looks deserted apart from the animal life,’ Oliver said. ‘Where do you suppose everyone is?’

‘Father and Clem will be back from the fields soon,’ Rosie said, feeling even shyer of him now she was home, ‘but Alice should be in the kitchen.’

‘I’ll carry you into the house.’

Oliver had Rosie in his arms as Clem came round the side of the cow shed, Charity at his heels.

‘Rosie!’ He dropped the bucket he was carrying, startling Charity, and rushed over to them. ‘What’s happened? I was just about to come looking for you.’

‘I fell down the valley,’ Rosie explained to her horrified brother, knowing his horror had more to do with the man holding her than with her recent plight. ‘Ricketty Jim has gone off and I was sitting there helpless for ages until Sir Oliver found me.’