‘Show me and I’ll telephone to see what they have, after I’ve taken Coco for his walk, if you like.’

‘Thank you, dear. You’re such a help. What would I do without you?’

What indeed?

‘How are your mother and Ellen settling back into Highview Cottage?’

‘Thank you, they’re really happy – not that they weren’t grateful for the rooms here, of course, but it’s nice to have your own space, isn’t it?’ Gina glanced ironically round the morning room, which was larger than the whole of the downstairs at Highview Cottage.

‘If there’s anything stored upstairs that you think they would like, let me know,’ said Edith. ‘Not from the nursery, though,’ she added quickly.

‘Thank you, Mrs Stellion. I’ll take a look and ask Mum, too. Now, Coco, time for us to be out,’ said Gina. ‘Come on, boy,’ and the well-trained dog obediently followed her from the room.

Gina decided, as it was a beautiful sunny day, despite what Edith had said, that she would take Coco for a walk into the village. They set off down the drive, Coco meandering between interesting scents along the way. When they got to the Lodge, Gina allowed herself a peek through Tom’s window, as she often did.

All trace of the fire had long since been removed or made good. It hadn’t done much damage, thank goodness; Ellen had intervened too quickly, freeing Tom from Philip’s assault to douse the flames before they spread too far.

Gina remembered arriving back with James in the car on that most momentous of evenings to find the drama almost over, though the presence of the police had sent James and Gina, with her new knowledge of his activities, into a tailspin for a moment. Luckily they’d just about kept their nerve, and soon found the police weren’t in the least bit interested in them. Her father had been taken away in an ambulance. He’d never gone home again. Now he lived at Calderstones Hospital, a vast mental asylum near Whalley. There were regular, though infrequent, reports on his progress, apparently, but Gina didn’t trouble herself with them. She was just glad to have her father out of her life – all their lives. Ellen and Tom had acted entirely in self-defence and Philip had been declared the instrument of his own downfall.