Glancing at Cissie, who was busily loading a tray with dirty pots, Sunday saw her raise her eyebrows, and frowned. ‘And what is that look for?’ she asked, bemused.

Cissie shrugged. ‘I suppose I was just thinkin’ it were about time Kathy got out an’ about a bit more wi’ people her own age instead of spending all her spare time wi’ Ben,’ she answered.

‘But what are you implying, Cissie? Didn’t you hear her say her friend is coming to go riding with her at the weekend? That’s a start, surely? And anyway, why shouldn’t she spend time with Ben? You know she’s always hero-worshipped him since she was knee-high to a grasshopper.’

‘She might have done but with the age gap between ’em bein’ so great I don’t think it’d be healthy if she got a crush on him,’ Cissie replied.

‘B-but she would never look at Ben that way, surely? They’ve been brought up as family.’

‘They might have been brought up as such but actually they ain’t related by blood, are they? An’ stranger things happen.’ Cissie sailed from the room without another word, leaving Sunday to stare after her in consternation.

In the stables Ben began to fork fresh straw into the stalls before bringing the horses in from the fields as Kathy swung on the half door watching him.

‘So, who’s this young man you’ve invited over then?’ he asked, without taking his eyes off what he was doing.

Kathy sniffed. ‘Oh, just a doctor I work with. He’s very nice and loves horses so I’m sure he’ll be in his element here.’

‘Hm, and do I sniff a romance in the air?’ It was funny, Ben thought, somewhere along the way and without him even noticing, Kathy had turned from a little girl into a very attract­ive young woman.

‘Of course not,’ Kathy scoffed. ‘He’s just a good friend; I’m sure you’ll like him. But I’ll go and start to bring the horses in now, shall I?’

He nodded and leaning on the pitchfork he watched her thoughtfully as she crossed the yard to the field beyond, where the horses were grazing. As usual, when she wasn’t wearing her nurse’s uniform, she was dressed in jodhpurs and an old jumper, but he realised with a little shock that the clothes couldn’t hide the fact that she had a very tidy figure. Very tidy indeed, he thought. It occurred to him then Kathy was now the image of her mother Kitty at that age and he felt a stab of pain in his heart. Kitty had been so beautiful, and Ben had adored her.