‘You know him as well as I do. He hates being laid up in bed, and neither Dr Neville nor Dr Godfrey can give us a definite diagnosis.’

‘Dr Godfrey? Who is he? I don’t know the name.’

‘He’s a doctor at the London Hospital, but I believe he trained at the City Orthopaedic Hospital. He came down from London especially to see Jack.’

Daisy smiled. ‘That will be my brother’s doing. Well, let’s hope Dr Godfrey can work miracles, because I fear that’s what it will need to make Jack walk again.’

‘I dare not think like that. I have to convince Jack that he’ll recover completely, and to do it I have to believe it will happen.’

‘He’s lucky to have you, Judy. If by some unkind twist of fate he doesn’t regain the use of his legs, he’s had the best education that we could afford to give him, and he’ll be able to take over the business side of running the estate.’

‘But he’s such an active person. I don’t know how he would cope with life as a cripple.’

‘Jack has a much stronger character than his brother. Jay couldn’t face responsibility of any kind.’

‘But you loved him once,’ Judy said shyly.

‘Yes, I don’t mind admitting it. I married him twice, didn’t I?’ Daisy laughed but there was no humour in the sound. ‘You and Molly were my bridesmaids at our spring wedding.’

Judy smiled. ‘I remember my dress and the little baskets filled with herbs and flower petals that Molly and I strewed in your path. It was a lovely day.’ She eyed Daisy warily. ‘I mean it seemed lovely to us, but that was before Jay disappeared.’

‘That was a talent of his; that and marrying women bigamously.’

‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to remind you of unhappy times.’

‘Don’t apologise. I got over Jay a long time ago and I was lucky enough to meet Marius, who is the best of husbands and a wonderful father. I doubt if I would have been half as happy with Jay, who was selfish to the core. It was painful at the time, but I’m glad he left the country.’

‘Jack isn’t like his brother.’

‘They’re only half-brothers. You didn’t meet the old squire, Jay’s father, but he was a nasty character. He wanted me to marry him but I had the good sense to refuse his advances.’

‘But he married Mary.’

‘He did the right thing, but only because he knew he was dying and he was afraid of going to hell. Anyway, he made Jay his heir. I suppose in the eyes of the law Jay still owns the manor house and the estate, but he won’t come home to claim it back from his brother – not after all this time.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘I know Jay so well. He shies away from responsibility of any kind. I doubt if he’ll ever return to Little Creek.’

Judy went back to Creek Manor with mixed feelings. Daisy had given her good advice, but she had put doubts in Judy’s mind as to the eventual outcome of Jack’s injuries. After all, Daisy had spent time as a probationer nurse at the London Hospital, and she had probably seen people with similar conditions, which made her an expert in Judy’s eyes. She went straight to Jack’s bedchamber without even stopping to remove her hat and gloves, and she found him wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. She could tell from his expression that he was in the grip of deep depression.