‘I could microwave those handwarmer things you’ve got, if you like. I know you’ve got gloves, but you could slip them into your coat pockets just in case.’

‘That’s an excellent idea,’ she agreed, looking at her hands.

I almost jumped out of my skin as someone rattled the handle and hammered on the door.

‘That’ll be Beamish,’ said Dolly, rushing to turn the key.

I glanced at the clock and put up a hand to stop her.

‘If it is him, he’s early,’ I noted. ‘Let me just check.’

I peeped around the curtain and saw Beamish standing on the doorstep. The chink of light escaping on to the path alerted him to my presence.

‘Are you going to let me in? It’s freezing out here.’

‘It is Beamish,’ I said to Dolly, who then opened the door.

‘Why was the door locked?’ he frowned, letting in a blast of icy air as he stepped inside. ‘You never have your door locked this early, Dolly.’

‘We haven’t been out,’ she said lightly, ‘so it’s been locked all day.’

That was true enough but didn’t explain why I had gone into stealth mode and checked who was outside before granting them entry. If Beamish thought anything was amiss, he didn’t let on.

‘All set then?’ he asked. ‘It’s a bit of a drive so we need to crack on. Anna at Wynthorpe said you could borrow these, Hattie,’ he added, holding out a bag.

It contained the wellies I had borrowed the day Dolly and I visited the hall.

‘That was kind of her,’ I said, taking the bag, ‘and you.’

If he’d gone to the bother of sorting out some wellies, he couldn’t really mind me tagging along, could he?

‘It was Anna’s idea,’ he shrugged. ‘Come on, let’s go.’

I was more than happy to get out of the house but being unfamiliar with the area had no real idea where we were heading. Dolly, however, seemed to have more of an inkling.

‘Something tells me,’ she said, from her vantage point in the passenger seat, ‘that we’re going to hear this surprise before we see it.’

Beamish shook his head and laughed.

‘I can’t keep anything from you, Dolly, can I?’

‘I’m right, aren’t I?’ she asked and I could hear the smile in her voice.

‘I think you might be.’

‘What?’ I asked, leaning between the seats. ‘What is it?’

Dolly looked at Beamish and smiled back. Clearly, I wasn’t going to be told what we would be hearing and seeing until the moment we arrived at our destination and, as it turned out, not even then.

‘I bet you’re glad of those layers now, aren’t you?’ Beamish said to Dolly as the three of us stamped on the spot, trying to keep warm.

‘I am,’ Dolly agreed, ‘and the handwarmers Hattie microwaved.’