She looked up into the millions of snowflakes falling from a laden sky. They’d had a brief respite from the weather for a few days after Christmas and a thaw had set in, only to freeze over the last twenty-four hours making the pavements treacherous with black ice – and now with the snow, walking was fraught with danger. Once Christmas Day was over at the inn, she and Betsy had snuggled in together at home, her daughter playing with her new toys most of the time. When she hadn’t been playing with Betsy she had sat and read a couple of the books she had borrowed from the reading and recreation rooms at the town hall. It had been in an effort to keep her mind from wandering and returning to the subject of Alexander Bembridge, as it had the annoying habit of doing given half a chance.

It was because of Alexander that she’d decided to extend the period at home for a few days, rather than returning to the market after Christmas as she had originally planned to do. She thought he might well pay a visit there on the pretext of buying more of her wares before he returned to the army.

The whole situation weighed heavy. Not because she was intimidated by him, but more that thinking about him caused a fluttering in her chest she could well do without. She kept telling herself that she was being ridiculous, but there was something about him that drew her like a moth to a flame and she had never experienced that before. Of course, it could be that he was different to the working-class men she came into contact with every day, but it was more than that too.

She sighed as she began walking again. She didn’t need this complication in her life, she really didn’t, but perhaps it was only a problem if she let it become one? And she might never see him again. For all she knew he had no intention of coming to the market or trying to see her again. He came from a different world to her after all, and in spite of what Cissy had said, he didn’t strike her as the sort of man who would try to take advantage of his position. But maybe she was being naive?