‘Oh,’ she said flatly. Then again, ‘Oh.’ There was silence in the room between them. Then Esther lifted her head defiantly. ‘But why, Squire? Why won’t you let a woman have your farm? Can’t you change the – the clause?’

The squire blinked in the face of her boldness. He had never before met a young woman quite like Esther Everatt and for all his breeding and position, he did not know how to deal with her.

‘Well, we never have, in all these years, changed any thing. I really don’t think—’ He broke off, as what he thought could be a better idea came to his mind. ‘Now, my dear,’ he leant forward, ‘if you were married, then it would be a different matter entirely.’

‘Married? Why?’

‘Well, we could put the tenancy in your husband’s name.’

Her green eyes flashed, her mind working busily. She too leant forward eagerly, her voice becoming slightly breathless. ‘You mean – if I were married, you’d grant the tenancy to me – to my husband?’

The squire nodded. ‘Yes, I’d be prepared to do that.’

Again there was a silence between them as they stared at each other. The girl’s mind was working feverishly, the man’s wondering what was going on in hers.

‘There’s no one else asked you for the tenancy of Brumbys’ Farm?’

‘Not exactly, though my other two tenants whose lands adjoin Brumbys’ have discussed the idea in principle of splitting it between them. There’s no outsider come forward – not yet anyway. Though word may not have got around yet that it’s become vacant.’

‘How long could you give me before you need to decide?’

The squire shrugged. ‘Three weeks or so.’

Esther nodded, her eyes glinting. She stood up and held out her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, the squire shook it.

‘Three weeks, Squire Marshall. Three weeks it is.’

She was hanging the washing on the line when she suddenly saw Beth standing uncertainly at the corner of the house leading round from the yard into what Esther called the front garden.

‘Is Matthew here?’

Esther stared at her for a moment then looked away. The girl’s face was white and there were dark shadows beneath her eyes. She stood huddled into her shawl, her shoulders bent, her arms folded across her body as if protecting it.

‘Where is he?’ Her voice rose shrilly when Esther did not answer her first question. ‘I’ve got to see him.’

Esther shrugged. She avoided looking directly at Beth and concentrated on stretching out the clothes and pegging them to the line. ‘I dun’t know where he is.’