It was the first time he’d said it. ‘Warts and all?’ she whispered, miserably ashamed of herself.

‘Warts and all,’ he said, ‘and I’ve got plenty of those myself.’ This time when he took her in his arms she didn’t pull away. He looked down at her woebegone face and felt overcome by tenderness. Then he laughed. ‘But you sure as hell produced a bumper crop of warts today – back to that first evening at Glendrochatt when you glared so dauntingly at all of us, daring us to like you! Kitty certainly got her comeuppance when she started broadcasting to you about the West Indies!’ He grinned at the memory. ‘She chose the wrong target there. Serves her right! But my mama always says we’re an impossibly daunting gang when we get together and it was stupid of me not to have realised it would be so threatening for you. Bad luck that you had to meet all the sisters together for the first time . . . but I’m a stupid oaf not to have helped you more. Am I forgiven?’

‘I don’t know why I do it,’ she said tragically. ‘I don’t want to. It’s like whenever I specially long to make a good impression on anyone, I have to go kick them in the teeth first. I feel real bad, especially when your parents have been so lovely to me. Then I couldn’t bear myself for being so horrible, so I ran away and made it even worse. You’ve got every right to be mad. I am so, so sorry. I’ll try to be nicer next time – if there is a next time – but you’ll have to help me and I don’t come with any reassuring five-year guarantees.’

‘Cheer up, prickly-pear,’ he said. ‘Try trusting people for a change. Now let’s persuade these fat old ladies to take a bit more exercise and give your face time to recover. I want my beautiful goose girl back. Remind me to find the book and show you the picture of yourself. We’ll go back through the wood and you can see some of Shakespeare’s England after all that wild, Scottish scenery you’re so hooked on.’

Later that evening, when she was helping Elspeth lay the table in the kitchen for supper for the four of them, Marnie apologised profusely for her ungraciousness.