From what Will was saying, Matt made out that Kate was subject to violent mood swings, going from the gentle person that he loved to a vitriolic horror, and then back again, in the space of a single conversation. He told of the strange, disturbing paintings she was making, and her obsession with the house and its morbid history. Finally, the flood came to an end, and Will stared at Matt with a glazed, exhausted expression.

‘My God, man! You have to get her professional help. You can’t go on like this. It’s killing you!’ Matt said.

‘No doctors. After what she was subjected to when the baby died, the drugs that turned her into a zombie and the endless psychotherapy, Kate made me swear that I would never call a doctor. I can’t do that to her, Matt.’

‘Well, we have to do something or it will get worse.’ Matt paused, thinking. ‘From what you’ve told me, I am certain that it all comes back to the original problem, her grief over losing your baby daughter. Oh, Will. Out of all the properties in this huge county, how could you have picked the one with a history of child deaths?’

‘I never knew!’

‘Now I feel I’m to blame. Trouble was, when you were buying Holland House, Liz was in intensive care and I was still reeling from the terrible case that almost destroyed us. Your buying this particular property and what it might mean just wasn’t registering with me. Even when you were ready to move and I was so much better, I didn’t give the history of the old place a second thought. To be honest, I thought the stories about it were old wives’ tales — other than the girl who got lost on the marsh, of course, but that could have happened anywhere. I had no idea that two children had died at Holland House.’

‘No, it’s me who’s to blame, Matt. Every day I kick myself for not looking further into that weird clause or even wondering what was behind it. Now that’s just what Kate is doing but she’s looking too deep.’ Will stared down at his feet. ‘I wish we had never set eyes on this place.’