Judy leaped to her feet. ‘Nonsense. I won’t have you say things like that about yourself. You’re the bravest, kindest woman I’ve ever met and you deserve to be happy.’

Mary nodded emphatically. ‘I agree with Judy. It sounds a bit extreme, Hilda, but if you can’t bear to reveal your poor damaged limb in any other way, I don’t see the harm in it.’

‘I wonder what Grace Peabody would say if she knew,’ Hilda said with a wry smile.

‘Heaven forbid!’ Mary sank down on a chair by the fireplace. ‘Where is that girl? I really could do with a glass of sherry.’

‘I’ll fetch the decanter and glasses from the dining room,’ Judy said hastily. ‘Just in case words gets out that the mistress of Creek Manor has taken to drinking in the afternoon. That really would scandalise the vicar’s wife.’ She left the room, almost bumping into the parlour maid. ‘It’s all right, Lizzie. The mistress has changed her mind.’

‘Yes, miss.’ Lizzie turned on her heel and hurried back in the direction of the servants’ quarters, leaving Judy free to fetch the decanter.

After two glasses of sherry, drunk in quick succession, Hilda finally plucked up the courage to agree, and they decided to put Judy’s stratagem into action the following afternoon.

Later, when Judy had taken Jack’s supper to his room, she told him what they were planning and had the satisfaction of hearing him chuckle.

‘You’re a witch, Judy Begg,’ he said, grinning. ‘Who else would think of something like that?’

‘It’s common sense,’ she countered. ‘Ma is afraid that Wilfred will be horrified when he sees her poor injured leg, and both Mary and I said that if he really loves her he will take it all in his stride.’

‘Unlike poor Hilda,’ Jack said, laughing.

Judy smiled. She knew that Jack was not being callous, it was merely his wry sense of humour struggling to get through the haze of misery that had held him in its thrall since the accident. He had always been able to see the funny side of a situation, and this was just the start of his recovery, or so she hoped. She waited until he had finished his meal, then she picked up the tray.

‘Lizzie should be doing that,’ Jack said sharply. ‘And you should be seated at table in the dining room with my mother. Why are you still here with me?’

‘I’m here because this is where I want to be, and I eat in the servants’ hall, as always.’

‘But that’s ridiculous, Judy. You aren’t a servant, and you should be treated as a member of the family.’

‘You’re wrong, Jack. I am still a servant, even if my position has changed slightly.’

‘I won’t have that. You’re my …’ He met her gaze with a puzzled frown. ‘I mean, we’ve been together for so long that you’re part of me.’

‘Not in the eyes of the family, or anyone else, if it comes to that. We’re not engaged or even thinking about it.’