‘I’ll think about it, but I’m not making any promises.’ Jay rose to his feet as the door opened and the parlour maid entered carrying a tray of tea and cake. ‘Anyway, it looks as if we’re going to be marooned here for some time, unless there’s a sudden thaw.’

Jay’s prediction came true. Snow was falling steadily and it continued intermittently for the next week with freezing temperatures and no sign of a thaw. Daisy was desperate to find a way to let her family know that she was safe, but the roads were impassable and as far as Toby and her friends in London knew, she had left the hospital and vanished into thin air. She could only hope that her aunt and uncle had not been informed of her disappearance, and she wondered how Nick would react. Would he be frantic with worry because he had tender feelings for her? Or would his anguish be on a less personal level, having lost a valued nurse? If what Hilda had said were true, it seemed that Nick had found comfort elsewhere. Daisy was puzzled, but she had little time to dwell on what might be happening in the outside world. Mary and Mrs Ralston had decided to utilise their enforced incarceration to open up and clean all the rooms that the squire had not used, and there were many. The servants were kept busy running up and downstairs with buckets of soapy water, mops and brooms, and Hilda was left to look after the children. Judy was considered old enough to help with the daily round of housework, but she had made firm friends with Cook and spent most of her time in the kitchen, learning how to prepare food and helping to knead the bread dough. Hilda also preferred to work in the kitchen, possibly because it was the warmest room in the house, and Pip and Nate were placed in the charge of the youngest housemaid, who was only a couple of years older than Judy.

Jay spent most of the day organising the outdoor workers to cut and collect firewood. The sound of an axe on the chopping block echoed round the grounds, breaking the eerie silence where every other noise was muffled by the thick layers of snow. Daisy accompanied them once or twice in an attempt to bring in as much greenery as possible, including large bunches of holly and ivy. It would be Christmas in a few days and it was important to make it a special occasion for all concerned, and in particular the children. Daisy even managed to persuade Jay to cut down a huge pine tree, which they planted in a barrel and placed in the entrance hall as it was too tall to put in the drawing room. That evening they drank mulled wine and played snap dragon, risking burned fingers by plucking raisins from flaming brandy. The adults joined in with the children in a riotous game of blind man’s buff, and then Jay whisked Daisy round the drawing-room floor to a tinny tune from an old musical box that Mrs Ralston had found tucked away in a cupboard. Their enjoyment seemed to be catching and soon everyone joined in, even Hilda, who was getting quite nimble on her artificial limb. The spirit of Christmas appeared to have overtaken the malignant influence of the squire, and when Daisy went to her room that night she felt that the house was happy at last. She sang as she brushed her hair before plaiting it ready for bed.