‘I won’t hear of it. You deserve a day off.’

‘Thank you, miss.’ Linnet hesitated in the doorway. ‘Will there be anything else this evening?’

‘No. I’m going to have an early night. I was up well before dawn so I’m really tired. Good night, Linnet.’

‘Good night, miss.’

Daisy sat by the fire for a while, staring into the glowing coals and wondering what everyone was doing at the manor house. Creek Cottage seemed very small and extremely quiet after the chaos of living with so many women and children, let alone a larger-than-life person like Jay, whose presence had transformed the atmosphere in the old house. When she finally went to her room she undressed and put on her warm wrap, but instead of going straight to bed she went to sit on the window seat and gazed out across the water. In a gap between the trees she could just make out the twinkling lights of the manor house, but it seemed as far distant as the moon and equally impossible to reach. Shivering with cold and exhaustion, she climbed into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve. She would walk to the village and make sure that the parcels were being delivered to the right people. She closed her eyes.

She was awakened by the sound of hail hitting the glass panes, but as she sat up in bed she realised that someone was tossing handfuls of gravel at her window. The pale light of dawn filtered into her room and at the sound of yet another volley of small stones, she leaped out of the bed and crossed the floor to fling the casement open. She leaned out. ‘Who’s there?’

‘Come down and open the door.’

‘Jay! What are you doing here?’

‘Let me in and you’ll find out.’

She slammed the window and ran downstairs, shrugging on her wrapper as she went. She wrenched the front door open and Jay rushed into the hall, sweeping her up into a passionate embrace. She struggled at first out of sheer surprise, but the warmth of his mouth on hers and the feel of his hard body beneath his heavy boat cloak made her weak with desire.

‘What are you doing?’ she gasped when he finally allowed her to draw breath.

‘I’ve come to bring you home. I can’t live without you, Daisy. I’ve tried, but my life means nothing if you’re not by my side.’

‘This is madness,’ she protested feebly. ‘We need time to get to know each other better, and we should talk …’ She never finished the sentence. His kisses were laced with pent-up emotion equal to her own. Common sense and rational thinking had flown out of the open door like a flock of white doves.

‘You love me,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I know you do, and I love you more than I would have thought possible.’ He held her away from him, holding her gaze so that she could not look away. ‘I want you with me for ever, Daisy.’