‘Nothing. I don’t know.’ She coughed and her face coloured, suggesting to him she might know, but would rather not say. ‘But what I do know is that I’m a bit sick of it. All of it! Lord knows I want her home; I wish I could wave a wand and have her back here with the life she had before she met the bloody boy! Or better still, back to the day I asked her to come cleaning with me up at the Old Rectory and I would instead let her sleep. I’d let her sleep all day and night rather than let their paths cross. But it’s Merrin’s choice and while she’s not here we have to make the best of it.’ His wife bashed the lid on to the casserole pot and abandoned her cooking, before rushing up the stairs.

Ben was about to slam the front door in a matching protest when he looked to the chair in front of the fire and did a double take. Ruby was sitting with a plate of toast on her lap and a magazine open.

‘Sometimes I actually wonder if I’m invisible!’ she yelled.

‘Who said that?’ Ben looked over her head, hoping to make her laugh, before jamming his woolly hat on to his head and leaving.

‘Very funny,’ Ruby smarted.

CHAPTER NINE MERRIN

CHAPTER NINE

MERRIN

Merrin straightened her ponytail and swallowed her nerves before knocking on the door of the wood-panelled study with the fancy coat of arms on the wall and walking in. A real fire roared in the grate. This room was indicative of the whole hotel: warm and cosy. The irony wasn’t lost on her that instead of staying in a place like this on her wedding night and embarking on married life, she was now working in a place like this with marriage something she had dismissed from her mind. Never again would she put on the fanciest frock she had ever worn and head to church. The thought made her shiver. She had learnt the hard way that being asked to marry and actually getting married were two completely different things.

Lionel Milbury Fortescue, the current custodian of Milbury Court, was seated behind his wide oak desk with the leather-inlaid top. His smile was, as ever, broad and his welcome warm.

‘Merrin! Yes, do come in and take a seat.’

She liked how he knew the name of every staff member and took an interest in him or her. It made the place feel like home for people like her who lived in, or at least as home-like as it could be for someone whose heart lived in a wild Cornish cove, one hundred and sixty-odd miles away.

‘How was the golf club dinner? I’ve heard great feedback.’ He clasped his hands on the desktop, his chunky gold signet ring sitting snugly on his little finger.