‘Yes, and there is no one fitting his description that’s been admitted anywhere in the area.’

‘Well, call DS Miles and I’m sure he will be able to help you. I really must go now, Mrs Millar. Good luck.’

Jazz switched her mobile off before it could ring again and headed back into the hospital, her thoughts focussing only on her father.

Sebastian Frederiks was fast asleep when he heard his mobile ringing. His alarm had not yet gone off but the room was bathed in the soft white light that only reflected snow could give.

He reached for the light switch and turned it on, but not in time to take the call. He checked his watch. It was half past six. Jumping out of bed, he shivered in the cold room, surprised by it. The whole of Fleat House was usually unnaturally warm, overheated, rather like a hospital.

He wandered around, trying to locate his mobile. He found it in his jacket pocket and as he did so, it rang again to tell him he had a voice message. Dialling the number, Sebastian jumped back beneath the warmth of the duvet and listened.

‘Hello, darling, it’s me. I wanted to catch you before you started work. I’d like to see you tonight if you can make it. I’ll be here all evening, so it doesn’t matter what time. Call me when you can. I love you.’

Sebastian lay back on his pillows, pondering how he could extricate himself this evening. Being a housemaster was all-consuming. There was no time to have a life of any sort. He was on duty twenty-four hours a day during term time and now Hugh had gone, he didn’t even have the back-up of a house tutor until someone else was appointed. James Cox, a sixth-former and head of house, was filling in at present, but Sebastian could hardly leave an eighteen-year-old pupil alone in charge.

He wished to God his inheritance would hurry up and come through and they could start to make plans for the future.

He still hadn’t told her about it yet, wanting to save the news for a moment when they could spend some time together, enjoy it. No longer would he be the poor relation, and he wondered if that would change the dynamics at all.

The most important thing was that he would have the autonomy to make the necessary decisions for both of them, a position that a few days ago he’d never have thought possible.

Sebastian allowed himself a smile. From a seemingly impossible situation, they were both now in a position to move forward.

The alarm clock went off, startling him. He leaned over and switched it off, threw back the duvet and headed for the shower.

He shouted in shocked protest as a freezing cold jet of water stunned his skin into a mass of goose pimples. Fiddling with the control, he saw it was already on the warmest setting. Stepping out and grabbing a towel, he waited outside the cubicle for a few seconds, testing the water with his fingertips to see if it became warmer.