Edward had invited Ellen to come up to Highview Farm for her tea when he met her on the way home from seeing Mr Shepherd. All afternoon Ellen had looked forward to this treat. Nancy was a very good cook, although the food was plain, and the Beveridges always made her feel very welcome. Dora said Tom had invited her and Betty and Reg Travers to the Lodge to play cribbage after work, so Ellen didn’t feel obliged to turn down the invitation in order to keep her mother company.

‘Tom will walk me home and Ed will bring you back safely, so we’ve nowt to worry about,’ said Dora, who was nervous on her own these days, even though Philip was locked away.

When it came time for Ellen to go home, Edward took up his big torch and Ellen had her own to light the way down the lane. It was pitch-dark but not especially cold. Their torches made two companionable yellowish beams of light in the black lane.

‘I sometimes see all sorts down here if I’m quiet,’ said Ed. ‘Once I saw a badger, and once a wild sort of a cat, like a domestic cat but bigger and fiercer.’

‘Weren’t you frightened?’ asked Ellen, taking his free hand.

‘Nah, it weren’t interested in me. Shot across the lane and stopped only a moment to look at me before it went through the hedge and away. It had huge yellow eyes.’

‘Spooky. I’m not sure I’d want to see one when I was alone,’ said Ellen.

‘You’d be all right. But you’re not alone. You’re with me, Nell, love.’

‘But I might be by myself one time.’

‘But you needn’t be, lass.’ He paused and she heard him swallow as if he were nervous. ‘You needn’t ever be alone again if you don’t want. If you like, we could be together always.’

Ellen’s heart did a little flip, but she was anxious not to misunderstand. ‘What are you saying, Ed?’

He stopped and put an arm around her. ‘That I’d like us to be together for ever, love. That I’d like you to marry me … if you’ll have me, that is.’

‘Oh, Ed … I’d like to marry you, but …’

‘But what? I’d love you and take care of you for ever, Nell, and I’d never treat you badly. You’ve seen how good my mum and dad are together – respectful of each other and that – and we’d be like them.’ Edward was worried that Ellen had seen a far-from-perfect pattern for marriage with her own parents, and maybe she thought there was a risk all marriages could turn out like that.