‘There’s nothing to say. Your mother made it very plain that you will look higher for a wife than a mere servant, and I know she’s right.’

‘I don’t care what she says. I want to be with you always, Judy. I want us to be as we were last summer.’

She smiled, lifting her hand to touch his cheek. ‘We were playing a game then. It wasn’t real, Jack.’

He grabbed her hand and held it. ‘I was serious.’

‘There’s no future for us.’

‘You don’t believe that and neither do I.’

‘What do you want from me, Jack?’

He hesitated, frowning. ‘What do you mean?’

‘That’s my point,’ Judy said sadly. ‘You want me to continue to be the companion I was when we were younger, with a little flirtation for added spice, with the prospect of marriage in the distant future. Well, it won’t work. I have feelings, too. I can’t turn them on and off to suit you.’

‘I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Judy. You know that.’

‘Not deliberately,’ she said, sighing. ‘But you go your own way, and you always have. One day you’ll have to face the fact that you’re responsible for all this, and you’ll need a wife who was born and bred to the life of the squire’s lady, and preferably one with a generous dowry.’

‘This is ridiculous. I haven’t even considered marriage to an heiress. I need you, Judy. You’re part of all this.’ Jack encompassed the estate with a sweep of his arms. ‘You’re part of everything that’s good – you’re part of me.’

‘You haven’t listened to a word I’ve said.’ Judy shivered as a cold wind whipped in from the east. ‘It’s getting late and I’ve had a long day. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘I do care about you,’ Jack said angrily. ‘I’m not playing games.’

Judy stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. ‘Good night, Jack.’ The gate creaked on rusty hinges as she opened it and closed it behind her. She walked resolutely up the path and let herself into the cottage, but she did not look back. If she did, and saw Jack looking like a despondent schoolboy, she knew she would weaken. She had always been the first to give in after a quarrel, but not this time. She slammed the front door and leaned against it, closing her eyes in an attempt to blot out the vision of Jack’s bewildered expression.

‘Is that you, Judy?’

The sound of her mother’s voice brought Judy back to her senses and she hurried into the kitchen. ‘Yes, Ma.’

‘I wasn’t expecting you until later.’

‘I’d done everything that needed doing, so I decided to finish early.’

‘I’ve saved you some supper, Judy.’

‘Thanks, but I’m not hungry.’ The moment the words left her lips, Judy knew she had made a tactical error. Her mother’s eyebrows shot up and her smile faded into a worried frown.

‘Are you sickening for something? I’d better make you up a tonic.’