The congregation knelt in the final prayer and when they rose and began to move out of the church, Kate remained where she was, on her knees, her head bowed, her hands covering her face. She sensed the coffin being carried out first, and knew that the Eland family were following, Beth, Danny – and Rosie, for now she was Mrs Eland.

She felt a light touch on her shoulder and Jonathan’s whisper, ‘We must go, Kate.’

Slowly she stood up and turned to see Danny going out of the church, one arm around his mother, the other around Rosie.

He did not even glance back at her, and in that moment, Kate had never felt so lonely in her life.

‘Will Beth want us at the graveside?’ Kate heard her mother whisper to Jonathan as they hesitated outside the porch, their glances going towards where the three figures stood near the freshly dug hole in the churchyard.

‘Yes,’ Jonathan said firmly and took Esther’s arm. ‘Come along. You too, Kate.’

The coffin was lowered into the ground and Danny bent to scoop up a handful of earth and scatter it on to the lid. As he straightened up, across the grave his glance met Kate’s.

For an instant, the years fell away and they were again two children standing beside Matthew Hilton’s grave, the man they now knew had fathered them both. Yet the man they were burying this day had been more of a father to Danny. Poor Danny, she thought, he must have so many conflicting emotions churning inside him, and she wasn’t making it any easier. This was not a day for bearing grudges.

The interment ended, and as they began to move away, Kate saw her mother go to Beth’s side and take her arm. Together, the two women walked away down the path. Jonathan was speaking to Rosie and, taking her chance, Kate went up to Danny and laid her hand gently on his arm.

He turned swiftly and gripped her hands. ‘Kate,’ was all he said, but it was enough.

They walked together down the footpath, following the others. She heard him sigh and looked up to see his gaze upon the black-coated figures of his mother and Esther Godfrey ahead of them.

‘Strange, isn’t it, how those two come together in times of sorrow and yet they can’t bring themselves to speak to one another ordinarily?’

Kate was silent. She could have said, ‘I know how they feel!’ She had made a tentative gesture of reconciliation towards Danny, but even now, Kate admitted guiltily to herself, she could not bring herself to speak to Rosie Eland.

Back at camp it was a little easier, but letters from home renewed the pain.