She stared into her glass, watching the candlelight glimmer in the pale sparkling liquid and said quietly, ‘So her daughter died out there. No wonder the old lady didn’t want children around.’

‘She disappeared, Kate. There is a difference. They never found her. It is supposition that she died.’

‘All that rigmarole about the well and the dangerous outbuildings was a cover. Her real worry was the fen.’

‘I should think so.’

‘Whatever, she was right. This place isn’t suitable for children. In fact, I don’t think Holland House likes children at all.’

Will was well aware of how sensitive Kate was, but her words caused him to shiver. How could a house — mere bricks and mortar — have feelings? He was a down-to-earth plod, and such fancies were beyond his comprehension. He admired her fairy paintings but to him, they were nothing more than play. He changed the subject quickly. Sometimes her odd fancies gave him the creeps.

‘Have you seen that weird guy Grove again? You know, the stinky bloke that lives in that ramshackle old cottage down by the sluice?’

She raised an eyebrow, evidently amused at his too obvious change of tack. ‘Once, although I hadn’t meant to after you warned me about him.’ She looked at him enquiringly. ‘Are you sure you’re right about him, Will? Sure, he’s not very chatty, but he does love the marsh. And there’s nothing he doesn’t know about all the birds that pass through here, even though he doesn’t come from this area.’

Though annoyed that she had ignored his warning, Will was loath to spoil their peaceful evening. ‘You found out quite a bit from someone who doesn’t say much. I could have done with you as my snout when I was working.’

They fell into a companionable silence. After a while, Will asked Kate to point out some of the constellations to him. He could never remember them. He enjoyed his beautiful wife’s enthusiasm as she pointed them out.

‘There’s Cassiopeia. See that “W” shape to the left of the cottage chimney? And that’s Orion, the Hunter, with his belt and sword. That really bright star in the belt is Rigel, it’s a blue-white supergiant. The other slightly less bright one is Betelgeuse — that’s a red supergiant.’

As she continued to point out her favourites, telling him their names and their impossible sizes and distances from Earth, his eyelids began to droop.

‘I love you,’ he said. ‘You’re my brightest star, brighter than all of these.’

‘Thank you, my Bear. I love you too.’

* * *

The night wind sent a cooling breath over their naked bodies. They lay on top of the bed, entwined.

As he drifted down into sleep, Will heard her ask, ‘Do you think she had any other children, or just the one, the one who died?’