‘She finally had him at three o’clock this morning with a little help from me,’ he told her, coming to lean on the half door next to her. ‘With his pedigree he’ll be a real asset to the stables when he’s older.’

Instantly her face set as she ground out, ‘Oh, I might have known it would all come down to money.’

‘We’re running a business here,’ he reminded her.

Two spots of colour flared in her cheeks and her eyes blazed. ‘Quite! My father’s business,’ she said testily and stamped away, leaving him to shake his head. Women! He’d never understand them if he lived to be a hundred!

‘So now what’s wrong?’ Sunday asked as Livvy stormed into the kitchen a short time later.

‘It’s that insufferable pig, Giles!’ Livvy spat. ‘I thought for a while last night that he actually had a heart when he stayed with Liberty to help her deliver her foal but all he thinks about is the money! As if he hasn’t got enough owning Treetops and Dad’s business.’

‘It’s hardly his fault if his grandfather chose to buy the house,’ Sunday patiently pointed out. ‘And if he hadn’t bought it we would have had to sell it to someone else anyway, in case you’ve forgotten.’ She was getting a little tired of the vendetta Livvy seemed to be waging against the Willerbys, but her words fell on deaf ears, for Livvy had already barged off to her room in a huff.

Oh, I’ll just leave her to it, Sunday thought dejectedly. What with worrying about Kathy and Livvy’s attitude towards their new neighbours she was just about at the end of her tether!

Chapter Eighteen

‘Is anything wrong, love?’ Sunday asked Kathy one evening late in August as she was just about to retire to bed. It had been a hot, humid day and everyone was drained. Everyone but Kathy that was, who seemed to be wandering about like a cat on hot bricks.

‘No, I’m fine,’ Kathy assured her as she paced up and down the small hallway, her hands on her back. ‘I’ve just got this niggly backache. You go on up, I’ll be following you soon when I’ve cooled down a bit.’ Even now with the windows wide open there was not a stir of breeze and the house felt airless.

‘All right, but call me if you need me.’ Sunday made her way up to her room where she washed using the jug and bowl she had placed on the washstand ready. She slipped into her nightdress and after releasing her hair from its pins she brushed it thoroughly. But Kathy was on her mind so instead of climbing into bed she went back downstairs.